In a recent post, we mentioned that millions of people are losing their jobs and, as a result, their group health coverage because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and many of these individuals will qualify for COBRA continuation coverage.
You’ve probably seen the numbers. Week after week during the coronavirus pandemic, millions of people have been filing for unemployment. In fact, ABC News reports that, as of July 23, we’ve had 18 straight weeks in which “weekly jobless claims surpassed 1 million.” Since the pandemic began, “Approximately 50 million U.S. workers have filed for unemployment insurance,” and “at least 16 million workers are still receiving benefits.”
As we recently explained, the habits that both agents and their clients developed during the COVID-19 lockdown will continue well after we return to the office. Specifically, people are now accustomed to shopping online, so there will likely be less demand for face-to-face meetings in the months ahead.
The Internal Revenue Service has announced the 2021 deductible, out-of-pocket, and contribution limits for Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Here they are:
There seems to be an agreement in the insurance industry that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the way we do business is likely to change—not just in the short-term, but also on a long-term basis. That doesn’t mean that we expect the coronavirus to be with us long term; we’re all hoping that isn’t the case. But it does mean that, during the COVID-19 lockdown, agents have developed some new habits that are likely to stay with us long after the health emergency is over and everyone is allowed to return to the office.
A recent survey by Pivot Health finds that enrollment in short-term health plans is increasing amid the COVID-19 health crisis. Interestingly, the majority of people purchasing short-term coverage are not moving from an ACA-qualified “Obamacare” plan; in contrast, 26% of purchasers were previously uninsured.
After two months of sheltering in place, most brokers have figured out how to work from home. You’ve probably set up a workspace if you didn’t have one already, downloaded and mastered some type of virtual meeting software, and learned how to service your clients without going into the office. But have you actually been selling new business over the past few weeks? If not, perhaps you need to polish your phone sales skills.
As a result of the COVID-19 health crisis, lawmakers and federal regulators have made three recent changes to Health Savings Accounts, and one of those changes appears to be permanent.
The state of Florida has more people enrolled in ACA individual coverage through Healthcare.gov than any other state in the nation, and it’s not particularly close. According to a list published by CMS:
People around the world are understandably nervous about COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus. To date, nearly 900,000 people have tested positive for the rapidly-spreading respiratory illness, and the world-wide death toll now tops 40,000. In the United States, more than 190,000 cases had been reported as of April 1, with at least 4,000 deaths according to Worldometer, which tracks cases in real time. Unfortunately, all of those numbers are expected to rise.
