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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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    How to Determine When Medicare is Primary

    September 27, 2019
    About a year ago, we posted an article about Medicare Premium Reimbursement Arrangements, which allow small employers to pay for the Medicare Part B, Part D, and supplement premiums for their active employees. As explained in the article, the employer cannot force older employees off of the group plan (they have the same enrollment rights as all other full-time employees), but it can often be a win-win solution for both the employer and the employee.
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    A Quick Update on All the Health Insurance Lawsuits

    September 20, 2019
    This is a weird time in the United States. Republicans and Democrats are at an impasse on healthcare; they can’t seem to agree on anything. But it’s worse than that. Each side seems to hate anything the other side proposes, and with a divided Congress, it’s pretty clear that we aren’t going to see any major bills to fix the current system anytime soon. None that have a chance at passing, anyway.
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    Health Care for Busy People

    September 13, 2019
    Everyone’s busy these days. And sometimes, the busy lifestyles we lead can have a negative effect on our health. Busy people often fail to get enough sleep, skip breakfast, get stressed out while sitting in traffic, eat junk food during the day because it’s quicker and easier than eating healthy, don’t drink enough water while at work, skip the gym because they’re too tired or don’t have time, and, yes, fail to go to the doctor on a regular basis. Instead of taking care of themselves like they should, they wait until they get sick, and then they want a quick fix so they can get back to their busy lives.
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    What's in Store for the ACA?

    September 6, 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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    HSA Limits for 2020

    August 23, 2019
    The Internal Revenue Service has announced the 2020 deductible, out-of-pocket, and contribution limits for Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Here they are:
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    Do Visual Learners Buy Insurance Over the Phone?

    August 9, 2019
    In May, The Hill reported that “A crowd broke out into chants of ‘PowerPoint, PowerPoint, PowerPoint,’ at Democratic presidential hopeful and entrepreneur Andrew Yang’s” rally in Seattle after the candidate announced that he would use PowerPoint in his State of the Union address if he wins the election. Yang has admitted that his is “the nerdiest presidential campaign in history,” but clearly his idea has resonated with some voters.
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    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.”
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    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.
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    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.
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