Anthem CA Re-tooling For Obamacare

Effective August 14th, quoting for individual health plans will only be available for start dates of Sept 22 or before. If you request an effective date on or after Sept 23, the system will have a pop up message stating that no plans are available for the requested effective date.Anthem is currently working on the mandatory changes and rates for plans to be sold Sept 23 and after. Plans sold on

No COBRA Subsidy In New Bill

The newly passed unemployment bill which will extend benefits until the end of November, 2010, does not contain a provision for any further COBRA subsidy. It was eliminated along with several other previously-included benefits to keep the cost down.Anyone who qualified for the 65% subsidy prior to June 1, 2010 will receive the full 15 months of 65% subsidy. Anyone who would have qualified but

California Moving Forward With Reform

According to a Mercury News article today, the California Legislature is moving forward with several reform bills in the coming weeks.The legislation, which may include as many as 20 bills, would, amongst other things, create state health insurance exchanges, do away with denials for pre-existing health conditions, extend coverage to children and uncap benefit limits on health plans.Governor

Health Exchanges and Independent Agents

I am hearing and reading so much lately from the health insurance agent community about the future of agents under healthcare reform. Specifically as relates to the health insurance exchanges set for 2014. A minority believe that independent agents will have a place in the system while a majority, it seems, are suffering from "Chicken Little Syndrome". Truthfully, no one knows yet what place

Large Companies Contemplate Dropping Employee Health Coverage

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that several very large companies "have concluded that they might be financially better off canceling their health care coverage and moving their workers to government-subsidized exchanges that will be available in four years".At least four companies have investigated to varying degrees the impact of dropping health care coverage and pushing their workers onto

MRMIP Will Not Be Used For Risk Pool

Today the CA Governor announced that California will not use the MRMIP program as the temporary high risk pool for uninsurable California residents.Instead, MRMIP will continue to operate alongside the federal risk program to be established by HHS in the next few months.Stay tuned for more details on the temporary risk pool and how to enroll. Remember, the federal risk pool is a temporary

Temporary Risk Pool (California)

Just a quick update on one of the provisions of healthcare reform that goes into effect in September--the temporary risk pools for the uninsurable who have 6 months or more uninsured (and are uninsurable).Each state was given the option to use a federal risk pool (HHS) or, if that state has its own risk pool, to use the state program and receive federal $$ for it ($5 Billion earmarked for these

This Is What Happens When You Don't Read The Bill!

I guess someone forgot to tell the administration and those who voted for health insurance reform to actually read the bill. The current bill signed into law yesterday does not, in fact, provide guaranteed-issue health insurance coverage from children this year, sort of. I assume this will be fixed but we will have to wait and see.Gap in law for children's healthcare protection

Impact - MLRs (Medical Loss Ratios)

I am watching President Obama sign the new health insurance (care) reform bill on CNN. I wanted to share some things I have heard recently that may eventually impact the number of carriers in California selling individual and family plans either through exchanges or privately, or both.While carriers (insurance companies) can boast an overall MLR (medical loss ratio) above 85%, this number is

Health Insurance Reform Has Passed

In a very close vote, HR 3590 was passed this evening 219-212.

Health Insurance Reform - What To Expect

Happy Sunday to you all. I am watching the House vote and waiting for the final determination on the Health Insurance (Health Care) Reform Bill.Since I have received many questions concerning changes I thought I'd quickly summarize here what to expect initially if/when this Bill is passed and signed into law today.During the first year you can expect:Pre-Existing Conditions - The Bill includes

From Wall Street Journal "The Wellpoint Mugging"

A very interesting article from the Wall Street Journal. The Wellpoint MuggingSome parts of the article are quite telling.He ought to subpoena California's political class because Wellpoint's rate hikes are the direct result of the Golden State's insurance regulations—the kind that Democrats want to impose on all 50 states. Under federal Cobra rules, the unemployed are allowed to keep their

Anthem: The Tale of the Tape in California

I was curious about the impact of the now-delayed Anthem Blue Cross rate increase on premium levels. I could only think of one way to find out, so I ran quotes on myself in Gilroy for four comparative coverage plans from the four California health carriers. Kaiser and Blue Shield are not-for-profit, so they should win, right? The results may surprise you! The rates below include the Anthem