Attention Virginia Anthem Health Insurance Policyholders If you have a non-grandfathered* individual Anthem policy with a December 1, 2014 renewal date, we have some important news. We just received word from Anthem of a change regarding the options you will have when your policy renews this December 1. Until now, we had been told that Anthem would no longer offer your current plan, and you would need to switch to
Understanding Halbig v. Burwell – Can I Still Collect a Health Insurance Subsidy?
We recently learned the outcome of an important legal case with potential implications for health insurance reform. At issue in Halbig v. Burwell was whether or not the language in the Affordable Care Act (in the law itself) gives the IRS and the federal health insurance exchange the authority to distribute premium tax credits to individual policyholders. The argument is that the law states subsidies are available for policies purchased
Another Health Insurance Extension?
This week’s big news surrounding the Affordable Care Act was the Obama administration’s announcement of a partial extension to the March 31 deadline for enrolling in 2014 health insurance. Another extension? Sort of. Before you believe you now have longer to enroll, remember it is a partial extension. And in fact, the administration is careful to call it a special enrollment period rather than an extension. Who Can Enroll in
How to Apply for Insurance on Healthcare.gov
⇒NOTE: This post is about applying for 2014 coverage. For information about applying for 2015 coverage, click here. If you live in Virginia and are eligible for a health insurance subsidy, you must purchase your coverage on the federal health insurance marketplace in order to receive the subsidy. Not sure if you are eligible? Use this chart to find out. You may qualify for a subsidy if, based on the
What is a Drug Formulary and Why Should I Care?
What is a drug formulary? A drug formulary is a list of medicines covered under a health insurance plan. A formulary may also specify tiers of medications and corresponding levels of co-pay or co-insurance. The drug formulary will vary from plan to plan. Why Should I Pay Attention to my Health Insurance Plan’s Drug Formulary? It is important to know the specifics of your plan’s drug formulary — particularly if
Pediatric Dental Benefit in Maryland Under Affordable Care Act (ACA)
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires coverage for ten essential health benefits (EHB). One of these is pediatric dental care. In order to get the most value from reading this post, we suggest you first read our earlier post about Virginia’s pediatric dental benefit. Click here. States have been given leeway in determining requirements for their pediatric dental EHB. As far as we can tell, Maryland’s pediatric dental benefit will
Pediatric Dental Benefit in Virginia under Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance plans to cover ten essential health benefits (EHB). One such EHB is pediatric dental care. It sounds simple enough: “pediatric dental care” means providing oral health care for children. But it turns out there are many questions — and few concrete answers — about exactly how the pediatric dental EHB will work in Virginia. Here is some of what we do know:
Another View From the Health Insurance Trenches
It has been about a month since we wrote about our experience “in the trenches” as we help our clients manage the transition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Many of you are wondering how things are going. Record High Volume at Virginia Medical Plans We, like most brokers across the country, continue to experience a record high volume of calls and emails. As you can imagine, we are doing
How Much Penalty Will I Pay if I Don’t Get Health Insurance?
The individual responsibility clause of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as the individual mandate, requires all Americans to have health insurance by January 1, 2014, or pay a penalty tax. How Much Will the Penalty Be for not Having Health Insurance? You may have heard the figure $95 per person. That is the basic penalty in 2014 for an unmarried individual, earning less than $19,500/year, with no dependents.
Online SHOP – Small Business Health Options Program – Delayed by One Year
Last week we learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has delayed by one year the launch of the online SHOP (Small Business Health Options Program). What is SHOP? SHOP is the federal online health insurance marketplace through which small business owners (employing less than 50 FTEs) can shop group health insurance plans for their employees. The idea behind SHOP is much the same as that of