By Joe Touschner With the end of open enrollment approaching, it’s a good time to review some of the rules surrounding the ACA’s individual responsibility requirement, or individual mandate. Overall, the individual mandate is intended to impose a tax penalty on those who have access to affordable health coverage yet choose to go uninsured for […]
By Joe Touschner As families have signed up for new marketplace coverage over the past several months, many questions have come up around dental benefits. I wanted to pass along some useful resources for understanding 2014 plans as well as the latest news on how marketplace dental plans will change for 2015. First, just in […]
Sometimes, it’s the simplest provision of a law that works the best – like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health plan until 26. But youth leaving the foster care system as they transition to adulthood don’t have families to fall back on, so the ACA […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance on February 27th for Marketplaces that have had technical difficulties getting consumers enrolled. The CMS guidance clarifies that if a consumer has had technical trouble trying to enroll, it could constitute an “exceptional circumstance,” and qualify the consumer for coverage (and financial help) on a […]
Arkansas Governor Beebe recently noted that some Republican Governors are warming to the idea of running their own health insurance marketplace. I hope that they know that their time is running out! Setting up a state-based health insurance marketplace is no small task, and unlike the Medicaid expansion decision, states that want to do it […]
The Affordable Care Act has helped level the playing field among insurers in terms of their ability to compete on cost in the individual and small group markets. Many insurers are turning to limited network products as a way to leverage more favorable pricing from providers, drive down unit cost, and lower premiums. Our colleagues […]
