The Relief Keeps On Coming!
Health Care Reform Updates – Hear are a few of the changes announced in the last weeks starting with Transition Policy. Transitional Policy provides the Option to Keep Existing Coverage in 2014 – State agencies responsible are encouraged (but not required) to adopt the transitional policy. If the state allows, health insurers have the option […]
Telehealth /Telemedicine
The next time your employee thinks he needs to go to the doctor’s office, emergency room or urgent care center, wouldn’t it be more convenient and cost-effective to call the doctor first? Seventy percent of office visits aren’t necessary and eliminating unnecessary trips to the doctor’s office reduces total employee healthcare costs – studies show a […]
2014 Waiting Period Limit – 3 months is not the same as 90 days
Effective for the plan year beginning on or after Jan 1, 2014 the new federal maximum 90-day waiting period limit applies to all group health plans, fully insured and self-funded, grandfathered and non-grandfathered. (States may mandate shorter waiting periods.) Compliant waiting periods include: No waiting period Date of Event: 1 to 90 calendar days; 1 or […]
2014 HSA Contribution Limits
A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged savings account available to those who are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to an account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. Unlike a flexible spending account (FSA), funds roll over and accumulate year to year if not spent. HSAs are owned […]
Cybersecurity and Obamacare
HealthCare.gov website users should know that the issues with the website were not just a result of a very large amount of traffic pinging it in one go. The security flaws in the website were quite primitive. Flaws you don’t really expect someone to have overlooked. For instance, the site relayed personal information without encryption […]
Small Businesses May Be Able to Re-Enroll in Current Coverage
Last week’s announcement the federal government is encouraging states to adopt a transitional rule which would allow insurance carriers to extend individual health insurance plans, which would otherwise be discontinued, into 2014, was only half the story. Only hours after the announcement the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released additional clarification on this […]
How much will that medical procedure cost?
Price transparency in healthcare is all the buzz. More than 85% of all medical services are scheduled in advance, giving the participant time to ask the provider questions prior to receiving services. – But how does an employee access price and quality information? It’s hard to negotiate for yourself. MyHealthCareGenius helps patients shop for the highest […]
Useful Apps – Drugs.com Medication Guide
Need help with medication management and adherence? – Users can lookup drug information, identify pills, check interactions and set up your own personal medication records. Key Features • My Drug List – Add your medications to assemble medical information in a simple, easy to read personalized format. Access consumer information, FDA alerts, drug interactions, plus […]
The Wild Card That Could Destroy Your Retirement
Here is an excerpt of an outstanding article we read on Yahoo finance: Could you withstand a half million dollar or more hit to your retirement savings? Even for many one percenters that could be the difference between a comfortable retirement and destitution. Yet, the odds that you may someday get this hit are uncomfortably […]
Obamaco$t brings Unpleasant Surprise – Focus, Large Group Renewals
Early 2014 large group renewals have come in for fully-insured and self-insured plans. Many employers are going to have an unpleasant surprise. A surprise to many who have had the belief that the postponement of the mandate postponed everything. Are you ready for this? Example 1: A colleague of mine reports a 400 life group with a […]