Healthcare reform

Communicating ahead of open enrollment is both a broader and a more specific challenge in a post-health care reform world. One expert at Univers talks about how she is prepping her clients and tips for how employers should plan.

New legislation was issued last night in the Senate that would remove broker compensation from the MLR calculation.

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction on PPACA’s contraception requirement, saying an employer’s First Amendment rights could be irreparably harmed if the mandate was enforced while a lawsuit was pending.

Despite the progress made through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on health care access, there are challenges to come from health reform, said Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisc.) Thursday at the AHIP National Policy Forum in Washington.

Governors who refuse to expand their Medicaid programs for the poor may cost employers in their states as much as $1.3 billion in federal fines, according to a new study.

Most brokers who plan to stay in the industry in 2014 are learning to embrace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But as two health policy minds from opposite sides of the political spectrum discussed Wednesday at America’s Health Insurance Plans conference in Washington, unknown effects of PPACA and rising costs of health care should still be on the minds of carriers and brokers alike.

The MLR regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are misguided, according to AHIP attendees. An engaged crowd at Wednesday’s America’s Health Insurance Plans conference in Washington listened to a panel dissect this issue from what the speakers said were unfounded claims of carrier profitability by the government, to the restrictions placed on innovation as a result of high ratio requirements.

Two employers shared how they’ve gotten creative with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at Thursday’s National Business Group on Health conference in Washington. One chose to move to a new consumer-driven health plan and the other chose a private exchange through Aon Hewitt.

Health care consultants from Mercer, Aon Hewitt and Towers Watson offered advice at a recent National Business Group on Health event in Washington, D.C.

Nearly half of all health plan members in the group and individual markets nationwide say they are interested in using a state exchange to purchase health insurance, according to a new survey by J.D. Power and Associates.

We’re starting your week with three important facts, developments or conversations from recent and upcoming events. This week, we’ll look at why uninsured Americans’ hospital bills are so high, more official steps forward by HHS on public exchanges and HHS goals for tech improvements in 2013.

Probably you. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is moving forward in its quest to define who is a fiduciary for various client/adviser transactions.

We’re starting your week with three important facts, developments or conversations from recent and upcoming events. This week, we look at the new IRS guidelines, final ruling from CMS on MLR ratio and what’s going on in Europe with retirement taxes.

Nelson Griswold on what insurance brokerages need to keep up with health reform.

Health-contingent wellness programs can increase incentives for quitting tobacco use.

Ignorance will not be bliss come October when state and federal exchanges begin enrolling individuals and small-employer groups.

The health care reform law has many moving parts and a great deal of regulations yet to come, which will keep benefits professionals on their toes all year.

Enlist your broker as a partner toe help you stay on top of health care reform rules and regulations, writes Contributing Editor Laurie Miller.

Only 6% of those surveyed by Aon Hewitt plan to exit employer-sponsored health care entirely, but around 28% are eyeing the next three to five years for a move to a private health care exchange.

A glass-half-full crowd of benefits brokers and agents – that could be the theme of this year’s National Association of Health Underwriters Capitol Conference. The organization concluded its three day lobbying stint Wednesday with a morning of discussion panels on health reform, remarks from a Republican congresswoman, a talk with a representative from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and an address from NAHU’s president.