If you’re covered by an Obamacare health insurance exchange plan, be careful: its coverage may be narrower than you think. And that can add up to a significant increase in your out-of-pocket expenses for health care. Let’s say, for example, that your doctor is concerned about your thyroid and thinks it makes sense for you… Continue reading How Narrow is Your Network?
It’s open enrollment season, and with it comes a menu of benefits from your employer. Now, in addition to what is often considered standard, is a wellness benefit. Wellness programs are becoming common in the workplace, however what constitutes participating in wellness may not be as ordinary as you think. Over half of large employers… Continue reading Am I Watching My Health Carefully Enough?
You’ve read about the “Cadillac” health tax slated to take effect in 2018. The Affordable Care Act’s tax on high cost employer health insurance tax will impose a 40% non-deductible tax on benefits that exceed a government set threshold. The expected threshold for this tax is $10,200 in health benefits for individual coverage and $27,500… Continue reading Will I Be Driving a Chevy in 2018?
Doesn’t Yelp review restaurants and hotels? Is that where you would also look for information about hospitals and nursing homes? Yes! Yelp, in partnership with New York’s ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization is now offering reviews updated quarterly for hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers. ProPublica compiles information from its own research and from the… Continue reading New Resource for Health Care Information: Yelp?
You were so careful during open enrollment. You checked your doctors, prescriptions and everything else you and your family needed. Yet, seemingly out of nowhere, an out-of-network charge appears. How can that happen? Networks are narrow and getting narrower. If you or a family member see a primary care physician in the office which you… Continue reading Your Health Care Surprises: Out-of-Network?
Most likely it is more flexible than you think. Health care flexible spending accounts (FSA) have been around for many years. Through pre-tax dollars, individuals are able to fund these accounts and use these funds to pay qualified medical expenses. Qualified medical expenses are most often used to reimburse deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance for an… Continue reading Is Flexible Spending Really Flexible?
The King vs Burwell decision has been long awaited. In a 6-3 overwhelming victory for the Affordable Care Act and the Obama administration, the Supreme Court has found for the continued availability of subsidies through the federal government’s health insurance exchange. David King and a group of plaintiffs from Virginia had hoped that the Supreme… Continue reading “Established by the State”: The SCOTUS has spoken
A favorite of so many baby boomers. Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the song “When I’m 64”. As baby boomers reach age 64, “When I’m 64” has a new health care meaning: Applying for Medicare. But if you’re not yet age 65, why do you have to think about applying for Medicare? What’s… Continue reading When I’m 64……
>Unequivocally, yes, you do. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 70% of Americans who are currently age 65 or older will need some type of long term care in the future. And the costs associated with long term care continue to rise. A 2013 Genworth Cost of Care Survey indicated… Continue reading Do I Need to Worry About Future Health Care Expenses?
The Medicare system may not be totally fixed, but the physician payment formula is. The “doc fix”, as it has become known, passed the Senate this week with a rousing 92 to 8 victory, after passing the House 392-37. It now moves to President Obama and he has indicated the he will sign the bill.… Continue reading Is Medicare “Fixed’?
