01 Nov 2018

Open Enrollment Checklist for Employees

by HealthQuoteInfo | with 0 Comment | in Health Insurnace
Open Enrollment Checklist for Employees

While open enrollment can often be a stressful and even confusing time for employees, your employee benefits package is an invaluable part of your total compensation package. In fact, in financial terms, the benefits you receive through an employer-sponsored group health plan can boost your compensation from work up to 30%!

Open enrollment gives employees the opportunity to reassess their benefits from the current year and make changes that will benefit them for the year to come. While it is sometimes tempting to just enroll in the same plan as last year without giving it a second thought, you could be cheating yourself out of a significant portion of your compensation structure.

Selecting your healthcare coverage is arguably the most important decision that you have to make during the open enrollment period. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s a simple one to make. In fact, it can be pretty complicated since your optimal coverage depends on personal factors related to your health. To make the best choice for coverage in the coming year, employees must take into consideration whether they take prescription medication, how often they visit medical facilities, how many dependents they have and how much they will pay out of their own pockets.

  • Review your medical and financial situation from the previous year. Before choosing your health plan for the coming year, it’s important to take stock of last year’s healthcare plan. Choosing the least expensive plan may seem like the best short-term option for your wallet, but depending on your individual health needs, it can be a very short-sighted choice that can end up costing you more in the end. To help you decide which plan is best, make a list of all your medical costs for the previous year, including copays, deductibles, premiums and coinsurance. Some employers may allow you to maintain your current coverage, so it is important to carefully scrutinize how your plan held up the previous year.
  • Consider any voluntary benefits. Review any supplemental offers, such as dental and vision coverage, financial counseling, disability protection and even pet insurance. Some employers are offering more supplemental coverage now and prices are lower in a job-based plan than on the open marketplace. Choose the coverage that is adequate for your personal needs, depending on whether you anticipate needing any major work done as opposed to basic cleanings and checkups.
  • Remember to take possible tax breaks into account. Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HAS) enable employees to put money aside to help defray healthcare costs, or “qualified expenses,” such as copays, deductibles, coinsurance and monthly prescription drug costs. Both FSAs and HSAs work as personal savings accounts and help employees reduce their tax liability by depositing funds into the account on a pre-tax basis. To qualify for an HSA, you must have an HDHPs (High-Deductible Health Plans), which is defined as health coverage with a deductible of $1300 or more for an individual or $2600 or more for a family. If you qualify, an HSA is generally preferable due to the fact that limits are higher and contributions can be carried over from the previous year. In addition, Dependent Care Flexible Savings Account (DCFSA) is another form of pre-tax benefit account that can be used to pay for eligible services for dependents, such as summer camp, after-school programs, and daycare.

To learn more about the open enrollment period for employees, contact the experts at HealthQuoteInfo.com at 1-855-881-0430. Our licensed insurance professionals are standing by to answer any questions you may have.

 

15 Oct 2018

Dates And Deadlines For 2019 Open Enrollment Coverage

by HealthQuoteInfo | with 0 Comment | in Health Insurnace
Dates And Deadlines For 2019 Open Enrollment Coverage

What’s all this talk about the Open Enrollment Period and how will it affect your family? We’re going to break down all the facts and talk about the important dates to save on your calendar.

What is the Open Enrollment Period?

This refers to the time period when Americans can either purchase or modify a health insurance plan for the upcoming year. This time frame was officially established by the Obama administration with the creation of the Affordable Care Act.

While the future of the ACA remains uncertain as the current White House attempts to undermine the program, the Open Enrollment Period remains an annual event.

When Is The 2019 Open Enrollment Period?

It officially begins on November 1st, 2018, and ends on December 15th, 2018, providing exactly 45 days for Americans to make an informed decision. If you have any questions or concerns regarding enrollment, we encourage you to call one of our agent at 1-855-881-0430. We can help you navigate through the confusion and find a plan that’s suited for you.

Other Enrollment Dates

Each state either uses the federal exchange (otherwise known as healthcare.gov) or their own state-based exchange. For this reason, approximately a dozen states have slightly different enrollment dates outlined below.

HQI Enrollment Graphic 2019

What If You Miss The Open Enrollment Period?

If you missed the 2019 Open Enrollment Period, you’ll unfortunately have to wait until next year. It’s not all bad news though, as you do have a few options. Firstly, if you’ve experienced a Qualifying Life Event, you can apply for special enrollment. Examples of a Qualifying Life Event include the following:

  • Marriage, divorce or legal separation
  • Birth or adoption of a child
  • Death of a spouse or child
  • Change in residence or work location, which impacts the eligibility
  • Your child fails to meet the plan’s eligibility rules (for example, the student status changes)
  • You or your covered dependents gain or lose other coverage because of a change in employment status (for example, beginning or ending a job) 

For more information regarding this topic, you can always visit our resource page.

Short-Term Health Insurance

Those without an annual plan can also purchase a short-term health insurance plan, which can now last up to a few months. In most cases, short-term health insurance plans are more expensive compared to the competition, but these policies can serve as a lifeline for this who missed the Open Enrollment Period. For more information, you can visit our page dedicated to short-term health insurance.

If you have any outstanding questions, we recommend contacting one of our agents at 1-855-881-0430 or visit HealthQuoteInfo.com.

20 Feb 2018

Trump Administration Continues to Pursue Avenues to Relieve People of the ACA’s Individual Mandate

by HealthQuoteInfo | with 0 Comment | in Obamacare, Trumpcare
Trump Administration Continues to Pursue Avenues to Relieve People of the ACA’s Individual Mandate

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare, was signed into law March 2010. The act’s major provisions came into effect in 2014. It was the most sweeping health care reform in America since the passage of Medicaid and Medicare back in 1965. Major changes to the individual insurance marketplace and an expansion of Medicaid Eligibility managed to provide coverage to an estimated twenty to twenty-four million additional people during the year 2016 alone.

In spite of the benefits that have been received by millions under the act, one of the least popular provisions of the act has been the individual mandate. This is a requirement that every American who is not insured through employer-sponsored plans, Medicaid, Medicare, or other private or public program must purchase insurance or pay a tax penalty.

Republicans have been the most vocal opponents of the individual mandate and have fought tooth and nail to find ways to repeal the act altogether, and in particular, eliminate the individual mandate. The Trump administration, through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 which was signed in December 2017, has taken a huge leap to chip away at Obamacare. The act repeals the individual mandate as of 2019.

That still leaves 2018 to be dealt with. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has endeavored to work on guidance aimed to increase the exemptions under which people would justifiably not show that they are insured when filing their year-end income tax returns. This could help scores of taxpayers who are still uninsured due to the increased cost of insurance plans under Obamacare. The IRS reports that six and a half million taxpayers paid the fine for not being insured in the year 2015.

The tax penalties can be hefty, starting at $347.50 per child, $695 for adults and going up to as high as $2,085 for a family. There is a cap of 2.5% of family income or the family maximum of $2,085 – whichever would be higher.

Currently, the exemptions to avoid paying the penalty are:

Hardship Exemptions

Those who are homeless, filed for bankruptcy, are facing eviction or a foreclosure or received a notice from a utility company that their service was being shut-off fall under the “Hardship Exemption.”  Additionally, those who suffered domestic violence, the death of a family member or a natural disaster also qualify to be exempt from the mandate.

Other hardships that also qualify for exemption consideration are; a) Tax filers who had medical expenses they couldn’t pay which resulted in substantial debt. b) Those who experienced unforeseen expenses due to caring for a family member who was aging, who was ill or was disabled. c) Your grandfathered individual insurance plan was canceled because it failed to meet the requirement for the ACA. d). Those eligible for subsidies, but the insurance company failed to provide them, and insurance was not available as a result.

Income Related Exemptions

If you don’t earn enough income during the year to be required to file a tax return, you will not have to pay a penalty.

For those whose costs of insurance, whether through a job-based or a Marketplace plan, would cost in excess of 8.16% of the household’s income, can qualify for either the Job-based affordability exemption or the Marketplace affordability exemption.

Group Membership Exemptions

Members of qualified health care sharing ministries will not face penalties.

Members of federally recognized tribes or those eligible for services through an Indian Health Services Provider are also exempt from penalties.

Exemptions Related to Health Coverage

Residents of states that did not expand its Medicaid program and the tax filer’s income falls below 138% of that state’s poverty level are exempt.

Legal Status Based Exemptions

Tax filers will not face penalties if they were incarcerated or residing abroad. U.S. Tax laws apply to all income earners, whether they are here legally or not. Undocumented immigrants must file a return if the minimum earnings threshold to file is met, however, they are excluded from the coverage requirement. They are also unable to obtain insurance through the marketplaces set up by the ACA.

Over 12 million people qualified under one or another of these exemptions for the tax year 2016. For the tax year 2017 and 2018, it will be even easier to duck the tax penalty. The Internal Revenue Service has backed off on enforcement of the mandate. Obamacare required the IRS to withhold returns if the taxpayer did not provide coverage information on the return. However, they had not enforced it rigorously. The IRS had previously announced that in the tax year 2017, they would step up enforcement, but with president Trump’s pressure, they have now retracted that statement.

It is still unclear what the final list of expanded exemptions will be, the CMS has not announced when they will complete their work on the guidance.

To learn more about qualified plans under Obamacare or Trumpcare, or additional insurance options, contact the experts at HealthQuoteInfo.com at 855-881-0430. Our licensed health insurance experts will be happy to answer any questions you have.

12 Feb 2018

Everything You Need to Know About the Children’s Health Insurance Program

by HealthQuoteInfo | with 0 Comment | in Health Insurnace
Everything You Need to Know About the Children’s Health Insurance Program

It appears a crisis has been averted for the time being. With health insurance and care continually in flux due to the politicized nature of our times, many have lost sight of why we have insurance in the first place.

Insurance offers protection against rising costs and unexpected expenses. Yet some of the most vulnerable within our communities, children from low-income families, rarely can afford or are provided such protections.

That’s where the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, comes into play. CHIP sets out to provide health insurance to children that would not otherwise have such protections.

What is CHIP?

Now, CHIP is a little more in-depth than that. The program aims to fill a gap in the health insurance marketplace. If a family makes too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford health insurance, then the children may qualify for CHIP coverage.

If a child has CHIP coverage, then a parent won’t be required to have traditional health coverage for said children. The Children’s Health Insurance Program is run on the state level and works closely with a state’s Medicaid program.

Changes Coming Soon

Recently, CHIP was on the brink of disaster. For 114 days, the program was without a budget. States didn’t know how much money they’d receive from the government for CHIP or when they’d get it.

Many states had grieved concerns about the future of the program and if they could afford funding. This was because lawmakers had been using the program as a bargaining tool in larger talks surrounding the budget and immigration.

The Children’s Health Insurance Program had been politicized. One side of the coin tried to attach the bill to budget cuts for Obamacare, while the other side wanted DACA protections included with CHIP.

Neither side got what they wanted with regards to these political issues, yet both realized CHIP must be passed and funded. So, both sides came together and got the bill funded for an additional six years, while also creating a budget for the states.

This was huge for proponents of CHIP, as the current bill now has until 2024 before it comes up for funding, again. This gives states and low-income families a lot of breathing room and protections.

An Insurance Industry Look at the Children’s Health Insurance Program

Nearly everyone inside the insurance industry, along with both Republicans and Democrats, finds huge value in CHIP. The program offers significant benefits to low income to middle class families looking to keep their children protected for a low cost.

The Children’s Health Insurance Program has also been a huge success. Since being implemented over 20 years ago, CHIP has cut the rate of uninsured children in half nationwide. 14% of children in the United States were uninsured in 1997. That number was down to 7% in 2012.

During that same timeframe, the numbers of uninsured adults went from 19% to 21% nationally. As well, many studies have shown that CHIP not only provides health insurance coverage to children, but that the coverage levels are nearly equivalent to the private sector coverage many kids receive through their parents’ employer plan.

The program has had such great success that many in the insurance industry were baffled to see lawmakers using CHIP as a political bargaining tool. Most believed that the program was incredibly effective and here to stay. Thankfully, that has turned out to be the case, as CHIP is locked in until 2024.

Everything You Need to Know About the Children’s Health Insurance Program

The Children’s Health Insurance Program is here to stay for now. While the health insurance industry is currently in political limbo, this is one of the best government-sponsored programs. There is no reason to politicize it or attempt to destroy CHIP at this point. From many viewpoints, that would be a disaster.

We shouldn’t have to worry about that anytime soon. With CHIP getting an extension until 2024, there’s nothing to worry about in the near future. Plus, studies have shown that CHIP is cheaper for the government to manage than other healthcare alternatives. As such, there shouldn’t be many issues moving forth.

To learn more about family health insurance policies or additional insurance options, contact the experts at HealthQuoteInfo.com at 855-881-0430. Our licensed health insurance experts will be happy to answer any questions you have.

31 Jan 2018

Amazon’s New Business Venture Set To Revolutionize Health Care Industry

by HealthQuoteInfo | with 0 Comment | in Health Insurnace
Amazon’s New Business Venture Set To Revolutionize Health Care Industry

Over the last five years, Amazon has grown exponentially and has successfully entered new markets, which include food, television, fashion, and technology (just to name a few). Amazon’s services are now an integral part of our lives, and it’s revolutionized the technological landscape.

On January 30, 2018, CEO Jeff Bezos announced his company would be partnering with JPMorgan and Berkshire Hathaway to create a company that would provide affordable health insurance to their employees. The news has sent shockwaves through the insurance industry, so we’re going to break down the facts and look at what this move means for the future of American health care.

Reactionary Responses

Immediately following this announcement, the market reacted, and media outlets are reporting that 10 of the largest health insurance and pharmaceutical companies in the US dropped by $30 billion within two hours of trading. The companies that were the hardest hit include MetLife and UnitedHealth, which were both down by five percent and eight percent respectively.

How Will This New Company Work?

The announcement didn’t provide a lot of details, although this new organization will act as a non-profit as opposed to a traditional corporation. This new endeavor is expected to provide health coverage to nearly 1.2 million employees across the country.

The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett said in the press conference “the ballooning costs of healthcare act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy.” This is in reference to the rising costs of health plans across the country, and how the fate of the Affordable Care Act is seemingly hanging by a thread.

Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan said, “the three of our companies have extraordinary resources, and our goal is to create solutions that benefit our U.S. employees, their families and, potentially, all Americans.” How will these resources be pooled? We’re not entirely sure, but according to Forbes, these organizations have a combined capital of $1.5 trillion.

Structure Of The Company

This venture will be led by three leading individuals from the three companies. This includes Todd Combs, one of Warren Buffett’s chief investors, Marvelle Berchtold, the managing director at JPMorgan, and Beth Galetti, the SVP at Amazon. The focus, in the beginning, will center around utilizing technology to discover new solutions in this industry.

This deal is incredibly exciting and perhaps is a new chapter in US health care realm. While we don’t have too many details to report on, we can certainly agree this announcement will have a profound long-term impact.

26 Jan 2018

The Impact Of The Tax Bill On Us Health Insurance

by HealthQuoteInfo | with 0 Comment | in Health Insurnace, Trumpcare
The Impact Of The Tax Bill On Us Health Insurance

A major bill was officially passed in both chambers of Congress last month, bringing a sweeping reform to the American tax system. Details of this tax bill have caused a political debate across the nation because it repeals the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act.

This puts the future of Obamacare in jeopardy once again, as the number of uninsured Americans is intended to rise dramatically over the next year. We know there’s a lot of details floating out there, so we’re diving into this topic to cover the basics.

Background Info

Officially called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, it’s the first significant achievement of the Trump administration since he assumed office. Details of the bill have been in the works for months, as multiple drafts were debated in the Senate. On December 20, 2017, when the bill was officially passed, President Trump held a press conference and said: “it’s always a lot of fun when you win.”

The Affordable Care Act

For months, the government has been trying to pass a repeal-and-replace bill to get rid of Obamacare. This proved to be quite challenging and contentious, as millions of Americans relied on the Affordable Care Act.

Fast-forward to last month and lawmakers had included a portion of the bill that explicitly repeals the individual mandate of the ACA. This means Americans will no longer be financially penalized for not purchasing insurance, meaning healthy individuals don’t need to purchase a plan.

How does this impact the marketplace? Insurance companies benefited from having mandatory enrollment, as it meant more funds could be allocated to the sick to provide health care. This dynamic is now going to change as insurance companies will be forced to increase premiums. An estimate by the Congressional Budget Office predicts the number of uninsured individuals will rise to 13 million people.

Consequences

Some experts have argued this decision is going to take an eventual toll on the Medicaid program, which provides basic health insurance to millions of impoverished Americans. As the price of health insurance increases, more Americans will have to rely on this program.

Tax cuts are also expected to impact the Medicare, which is expected to reduce spending by nearly 4 percent. According to a report by Vox, the last time there was a spending cut to the program, millions of patients lost access to basic treatment services like chemotherapy.

Killing Obamacare

Many political commentators believe this tax bill will ultimately kill Obamacare in the long-run. Earlier in the year, the White House announced the marketing budget of the ACA would be slashed by 90 percent, leaving just $10 million to promote the program.

Opposition

The Democrats have been firmly against this tax reform along with several high profile Republicans. Senator Susan Collins of Maine was a firm opponent because she said it would create chaos in the health insurance marketplace.

The Democratic Party along with several high profile Republicans opposed the tax bill. This included Senator Susan Collins of Maine who voiced her concern about this reform plunging the healthcare marketplace into a state of chaos.

In response to her concerns, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised to pass two bipartisan bills to help stabilize the insurance landscape. Several fellow Republicans have voiced their discontent over this idea, as many believed it was redundant to pass two bills to essentially prop up the Affordable Care Act. We’re still waiting to see the outcome of these two bills.

According to Fortune, the tax reform also ushers in the following changes:

  • The corporate tax rate is reduced from 35% to 21%
  • The top tax rate for families and individuals will be reduced 39.6% to 37%
  • The child tax credit will increase from $1,000 to $2,000 for certain families

For more information about health insurance plans, reach out to HealthQuoteInfo at 855-881-0430. Our agents are capable of answering all of your questions and help find a plan that’s suited to your needs.