Yesterday President Obama held a national news conference in which he apologized for “fumbling” the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — otherwise known as “Obamacare”. In addition to his apology, the President suggested a fix for the millions of Americans whose current policies are being canceled by their health insurance carrier. The Proposed Fix The proposed fix involves letting people hold on to their non-ACA-compliant health insurance plans
Why is My Health Insurance Policy Being Canceled and What Can I Do?
It’s all over the news this week. Millions of individual health insurance policies are being canceled. Here at Virginia Medical Plans, we have known this was coming for months. In fact, back in June we wrote about it right here. Since then, we have assisted literally hundreds of clients with their decision about coverage in 2014. Here are some of the questions we are hearing, along with the answers: Why
Will My Health Insurance Need to Change in 2014?
This is a question we hear a lot. If you currently have health insurance, your plan fits into one of two categories: Grandfathered plans: policies purchased before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 23, 2010 and still active. For more information on grandfathered plans click here. Non-grandfathered plans: policies purchased on or after March 23, 2010, with coverage active before January 1, 2014. Because these
Anthem Letter – What Does it Mean?
Anthem recently mailed out letters to thousands of policyholders with non-grandfathered health insurance plans … and, in the process, may have inadvertently confused a lot of people! To read the letter, click here. What does the letter mean? In a nutshell, the letter informs Anthem’s policyholders that the way a policy year is defined is changing from the default of a calendar year (January 1 – December 31) to a
Buying Individual Health Insurance Under the Affordable Care Act
If you currently buy your own health insurance (vs. getting it through your employer), you may be wondering what your next steps will be now that implementation of the next phase of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is getting closer. Here is a quick run-down of your options. If your current coverage is a grandfathered health insurance plan and you have favorable rates and terms on the current plan, then
Early Renewal for Health Insurance Plans
Why Renew Early? With the next phase of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) going into effect in just under six months, many small businesses that currently provide group insurance for their workers are concerned about the law’s impact on the cost of doing so. Individuals, too, are wondering if their costs will increase under ACA. Under the law, new health plans must cover the essential health benefits, but at the