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    DOI Warns Agents About Unauthorized Insurance

    December 5, 2019
    In the state of Texas, the Department of Insurance recently sent out a bulletin warning health insurance agents and third-party administrators (TPAs) about the dangers of “assisting a company engaging in the unauthorized business of insurance.” While the bulletin was specific to Texas agents, it’s a message that brokers across the country should take to heart.
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    Health Insurance Market Dominated by a Handful of Carriers

    November 27, 2019
    Those who oppose the single-payer health insurance plan promoted by Bernie Sanders in his 2016 presidential campaign, and supported by most Democratic candidates in the 2020 race, often argue that competition is good for the market; it helps improve quality and reduce costs because consumers shop with their wallets. Many insurance agents would agree with this assessment: competition, in most cases, is good for consumers. However, what is often left unsaid in the conversation about competition in the health insurance industry is that it doesn’t really exist, at least not to the extent that we would like to believe it does.
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    Freelancers Need Health Insurance

    November 21, 2019
    The world is changing. More and more people are working from home, doing side jobs, and trying desperately not to spend their lives “working for the man.” How much is the freelance workforce growing? A lot. According to a recent report by Fiverr, an online marketplace for freelance services, there are “approximately 57.3 million freelancers in the US currently contributing $1.4 trillion to the economy,” and “it is anticipated that freelancers and independent workers will make up the majority of the workforce in the US within 10 years.”
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    Smooth Sailing for the Next Three Years

    November 15, 2019
    A presidential election year can seem like a time of uncertainty. The current President is trying to hang on to his job while other candidates—in this case, a couple dozen other candidates—are busy explaining all the things that they will change if they are able to unseat him. Other elected officials are up for re-election as well, so there are plenty of proposals and promises and criticisms and sound bites. With all of the noise, it’s easy to understand why people are unsure about what will happen in the months and years ahead.
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    Multi-Part Health Plans

    November 8, 2019
    Back in the good old days—just a few short years ago—it was possible to sell clients a health plan that checked all of the boxes:
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    The $500 FSA Rollover is Not Automatic

    November 1, 2019
    Employees love Flexible Spending Accounts, or FSAs. These tax-advantaged accounts give them the ability to set aside tax-free dollars to pay for qualified medical expenses, similar to an HSA. Unlike an HSA, though, an FSA can be paired with any type of health plan, including plans with up-front copayments for doctor visits and prescriptions. The drawback, of course, is the “use it or lose it” rule; employees whose FSA contributions exceed their annual medical costs must either go on a spending spree at the end of the year or risk losing any unspent funds.
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    Medicare for All and the 2020 Election

    October 25, 2019
    Back in 2007, three years before the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, Michael Moore released his film “Sicko” to highlight what he saw as the flaws in our for-profit healthcare system and advocate for a single-payer, Medicare-for-All solution in the United States. Moore was a supporter of H.R. 676, the Medicare-for-All bill introduced by Senator John Conyers (D-MI) that was picking up some steam at the time.
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    President Trump’s Executive Order to Expand HSAs

    October 19, 2019
    On June 24, 2019, President Trump signed an executive order that would, among other things, make it easier for consumers to choose an HSA-compatible High Deductible Health Plan, expand the definition of preventive care under this type of plan, and expand the list of HSA-eligible expenses.
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    New Tool Compares Medicare-for-All Proposals

    October 11, 2019
    One of the problems in DC is that, instead of working together to develop a plan to fix our broken health care system, nearly everyone develops their own plan so that they can take credit for it. That certainly seems to be the case among the nearly two dozen Democrats running for President. Most, but not all, support some version of Medicare expansion, but those who do support the idea are far from being on the same page.
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    New Star Rating System for Marketplace Plans

    October 3, 2019
    In an August 15, 2019 news release, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that, beginning with the 2020 Open Enrollment Period, CMS “will require the display of the five-star Quality Rating System (or star ratings) available nationwide for health plans offered on the Health Insurance Exchanges.”
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