The impact of the troubled online federal health insurance marketplace — healthcare.gov — has been felt by many Americans trying to manage the transition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as “Obamacare”. And now we have a numeric representation of the impact — last week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released enrollment numbers since the opening of the health insurance marketplace on October 1. The
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) Now Allow $500 Carryover
In good news for consumers, last month the US Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a change to the “use-or-lose” rule for Health Flexible Spending Arrangements — also known as Flexible Spending Accounts or FSAs. (Read the full notice here.) What is a Health Flexible Spending Account (FSA)? When considering which benefits to offer its workforce, an employer may choose to offer the option of a
Obama’s News Conference on Affordable Care Act — What Does it Mean?
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
Impact of Obamacare on the Individual and Small Group Health Insurance Markets
Everywhere you turn these days, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — otherwise known as “Obamacare” — is in the news. From last month’s government shutdown, to the glitchy launch of healthcare.gov, to the results of last week’s elections, and now to President Obama’s recent apology for millions of policy cancellations despite his earlier statement that we’d all be able to keep our health insurance, the news can be contradictory, confusing,
Sticker Shock over 2014 Health Insurance
Many Americans in the individual health insurance market — those who purchase their own health insurance vs. getting it through their employer — are getting their first glimpse into their 2014 premiums. And many are facing sticker shock! Why are some people’s prices increasing in the 2014 individual market? The price increases are a matter of math and statistics. No More Denial for Pre-Existing Conditions A cornerstone of the Affordable
Effective Dates for 2014 Health Insurance
There has been a lot of talk about enrollment for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (otherwise known as “Obamacare”). It may not be clear, however, how the effective dates work for 2014 coverage. Open enrollment for health insurance plans effective in 2014 runs from October 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014. This means that during this time period, any eligible consumer can purchase a health insurance policy that
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
In-network vs. Out-of-network Care
What is a network? A network (also called provider network or preferred providers) is a group of medical providers (hospitals, doctors, specialists, pharmacies, etc.) that have contracted with an insurance company to provide medical care at an agreed-upon rate. What is in-network vs. out-of-network care? In-network care is medical care obtained from a provider within your plan’s network. Out-of-network care is medical care obtained from providers outside of your plan’s
Extended Deadline for Health Coverage – What Does it Mean?
The Affordable Care Act (ACA — otherwise known as “Obamacare”) has been front-and-center in the news this month, first for its role in the recent record-long, 16-day shutdown of the US government, and now for the technical glitches that have plagued the online federal health insurance exchange since it opened on October 1. This week the Obama administration announced a 6-week extension of the deadline for signing up for health
Why Should I Buy Health Insurance if I am Young and Healthy?
Why should the young and healthy have health insurance? The glitches and delays experienced with the October 1 roll-out of the online health care exchanges have left many wondering if young, healthy Americans will give up and simply not enroll in a health insurance plan by January 1, 2014. However, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — aka Obamacare — makes having health insurance mandatory for most Americans beginning on January
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