We are only one week away from Open Enrollment for the exchanges. Yes, there is a lot going on politically as we close in on October 1. I won’t comment on the political wranglings since that’s not my job! However, there is tremendous concern as to whether the exchanges will be ready by October 1 or not. According to a report by the Dept. of Health and Human Services, the main issue is the security of the government’s data hub that will be used in the exchanges.
I normally don’t post twice in one day — partly because I’m very busy helping clients — however, today is an exception. After writing about the soon-coming public awareness campaign about Obamacare this morning, I read an article about WebMD offering advice regarding the new Health Insurance Marketplace. Now, this isn’t big news — I read about this last week However, I was surprised to learn that they didn’t mention that agents were also a valuable resource!
A huge public awareness campaign will soon be launched in Georgia and all over the nation. Each state has received substantial funds so they can get the word out. The message is geared towards people who will benefit from enrolling in the exchange (aka: marketplace). There is still a lot of confusion surrounding the new health insurance marketplace. Most people still don’t know how they will be impacted. Hopefully, the public awareness campaign will help bring some clarity.
Consumer Reports rated hospitals across the nation and the results were somewhat surprising. You can read an article about this report here. As a subscriber to Consumer Reports, I checked out the results for Georgia and didn’t find any shocking news. However, I am mostly familiar with the hospitals in the metro Atlanta area, not other parts of Georgia.
This report is significant because there really isn’t a lot of data available to compare hospitals.
As a result of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), rates for individual/family health insurance will drop by 50% or so in New York — NOT Georgia. This news was just announced recently and it’s really no surprise to those who understand how some states currently regulate health insurance. NY and a few other states currently cover everybody without regard to health status. Consequently, their rates are much, much higher than other states like Georgia. You can read more about this here.
Earlier this year, I raved about a new dental plan in Georgia that offers excellent coverage. The most significant feature of this plan is that there are no waiting periods (for non-group coverage). This plan is still going strong and I highly recommend it for many folks who have a need for immediate dental work. For more info on this plan, see my previous post.
Most plans will make you wait at least 12 months before they pay anything towards “major”
Changes are coming and they’re just around the corner. The major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) go into effect in 2014. All health insurance plans must be ACA-compliant at some point in 2014. This means big changes for many people. Whether you have employer-sponsored coverage or a personal plan (or no coverage at all), there are important things to know — and do — in preparation for the changes ahead.
In this post,
Many people are at least somewhat familiar with HSAs (health savings accounts). These tax-advantaged savings vehicles are coupled with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). In order to open a health savings account, one must have a qualified HDHP (sorry for all the acronyms!) Whether you have a personal plan or an employer-sponsored plan, the HSA plan option has probably been offered to you sometime in the past several years.
For the most part, folks tend to stay away from HSAs because they are unusual and seemingly present a much higher out-of-pocket risk.
If you read the news, then you might or might not be up to speed on Health Care Reform — or what is often referred to as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Well, don’t feel bad if you have read a lot of stories, but you are still confused. You’re not alone!
Most people in Georgia know that we opted not to set up and run our own state exchange, but instead defaulted to the federal exchange.
If you need health insurance for your child, then there is good news and not-so-good news. The good news is that child-only policies are available again, as of January 2013. Carriers had discontinued these policies shortly after the Affordable Care Act was enacted. Since carriers were required to cover all children, regardless of their pre-existing health conditions, they decided to minimize their liability. Carriers decided that children could only apply with an adult family member. This changed in January —
