Browse by topic
Search the blog
    Subscribe to our news
    Subscribe

    Expanded Short Term Plans Get Green Light from Federal Judge

    August 3, 2019
    On Friday, July 19, a federal district court judge in DC sided with the Trump administration in its defense of a rule expanding short-term, limited duration health insurance plans to twelve months with the option to renew the coverage for up to three years. The plans had been limited to three months under the Obama administration, which thought they could weaken the individual markets, but, as Modern Healthcare explains, Judge Richard J. Leon believed the potential benefits outweighed the potential harm. He writes in his decision that “Not only is any potential negative impact from the 2018 rule minimal, but its benefits are undeniable.”
    Read

    Don’t Be Fooled by Non-Network Providers

    July 26, 2019
    As provider networks continue to shrink and more non-network facilities like free-standing emergency rooms pop up, it’s crucial that brokers explain the importance of staying in network to their clients.
    Read

    How do you spreadsheet extra perks?

    July 20, 2019
    Most agents who sell group health coverage, and some that sell individual as well, create a spreadsheet in order to present the plans in an “apples to apples” format so their clients can quickly narrow down their options. While the spreadsheet can be a useful tool when comparing dissimilar plans by helping the client focus on the most important benefits, one big disadvantage of a quote spreadsheet is that it minimizes the characteristics of a health plan that differentiate it from the other options.
    Read

    Do you keep in touch with prospects that didn’t buy?

    July 11, 2019
    Do you know what your close ratio is? What percentage of your prospects actually turn into clients? If you don’t know, it might be a good idea to start keeping track of this information. It will help you determine what sales techniques work and help identify areas of improvement.
    Read

    How do you pick your CE classes?

    June 27, 2019
    Unless you’ve been in the business long enough to be grandfathered, you’re probably required by your home state to complete a couple dozen continuing education hours each license renewal period.
    Read

    One Long-Term or Two Short-Term Plans?

    June 21, 2019
    For those who qualify, short-term health plans can be a great alternative to ACA compliant individual plans, especially now that the individual mandate penalty has been reduced to zero. True, short-term plans do not cover preventive care or pre-existing conditions, and they are not guarantee issue like individual plans are, but they do offer much lower monthly premiums than individual plans.
    Read

    Preventive Care Isn’t Really Preventive

    June 14, 2019
    Let’s be honest—most preventive care visits don’t really prevent illnesses. When we go to the doctor to get poked and prodded during our annual physical, most of the tests are intended to determine if we already have or are susceptible to something that, without treatment, could become more serious.
    Read

    Upcoming Executive Order on Price Transparency

    June 6, 2019
    In a recent AHCP blog post, we explained that a hospital price transparency law that went into effect January 1 of this year really does very little to help consumers better understand the cost of medical care. Instead, it simply requires hospitals to post their chargemaster data in a machine-readable format on its website. We finished the post by saying that “only time will tell how impactful this particular rule will be, but the movement towards transparency is a step in the right direction.”
    Read

    Adverse Selection vs. Moral Hazard

    May 31, 2019
    If you think back to the days when you were studying for your insurance license, you may remember learning a couple terms that are related but have different meanings. In this post, we’ll discuss Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard and explain why both of these terms are relevant in today’s health insurance environment.
    Read

    Do Something with Your Time

    May 17, 2019
    As we enter the second quarter, this is officially the slow time of the year. The phone has stopped ringing off the wall, and you’ve settled back into your normal insurance routine. So we have a question:
    Read

    Join Our Newsletter

    Take your career to the next level and join the growing community of agents who have found it very rewarding to work with AHCP.