March 31st, Obamacare, ACA, healthcare.gov……..open enrollment is over. Well, at least for those who don’t meet the exception qualifications. The dust has settled. But has it really? How many individuals are newly insured through the exchanges? Newly insured through employers? Still uninsured? Can they even be accurately counted? Early returns would indicate that more than… Continue reading March 31st Madness Has Come and Gone: Now What?
As out-of-pocket costs increase and consumer driven health plans become more prevalent, individual health insurance costs are more than just premiums. Is there such a thing as supplemental insurance from an employer or an exchange plan that would cover additional non premium expenses that individuals incur while owning health insurance? It is widely recognized that… Continue reading Can You Reduce Your Health Coverage Out of Pocket Expenses?
The essential benefits requirement of individual and small business health insurance plans has been one of the most well publicized components of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Within the ten categories is the inclusion of rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices. Is it likely that previously non covered habilitative services–for the developmentally challenged with autism,… Continue reading Ten Essential Benefits: Rehabilitative AND Habilitative Services?
The answer is yes with many caveats. And those caveats depend on where your business is located, what kind of health insurance you are looking to purchase and whether you are planning to buy it online. Also, are you entitled to a tax credit and will your employees have a reasonable selection from among the… Continue reading Small Business Owners Wonder: Is the SHOP open for business?
November 30th has passed and we have been assured that healthcare.gov is working the way it should have on October 1st. Although individuals may be able to access the site and input information through December 23 for 2014, will they really be covered by January 1, 2014? Is it REALLY that easy to select a… Continue reading Cyber Monday: Health Insurance by Christmas? New Years Day?
Last Thursday, President Obama, in an effort to keep his health care promise, extended the deadline for individual and small business plans to own policies that conform to the ten new Affordable Care Act (ACA). This extension now allows insurers who offered plans in the past without the new essential benefits, to renew the old… Continue reading NOW you can keep your plan. You sure about that?
As a health care consultant, it was critical that I understand the various options that are available to individuals and families on the public health care exchanges. I decided to help my sister, who is a Pennsylvania resident, establish an account on the healthcare.gov site. Pennsylvania is one of the 34 states that is a… Continue reading Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Visit healthcare.gov. I did!
YES!! Health Insurance Exchanges were specifically designed to provide individuals and small business owners with the ability to purchase affordable health insurance regardless of age and pre-existing conditions. Aside from monthly premiums, however, your out-of-pocket expenses could be more than you expect them to be. The exchanges will be required to offer ten essential health… Continue reading Will Health Insurance Exchanges REALLY Insure Your Health?
It’s time. Your child’s tuition bill has arrived. If it’s the first child you’ve sent off to college, it’s shocking. Even if he or she is a returning student, it’s still shocking. Most of the time, your child’s health care isn’t your first concern, especially if your children have been covered under your or your… Continue reading Tuition…Room and Board…Linens…Healthcare?
One widely publicized provision of the Affordable Care Act is the capability parents have to cover their children until age 26 in their healthcare plans. Through 2013, more than 2.5 million young adults were added to their parents health insurance. As 2014 and the mandatory health insurance requirements approaches, this increasing number of covered young… Continue reading Young Adults and Healthcare: Young Invincibles?
