Healthcare reform

CMS has granted 18 states a delay in enacting employee choice on the SHOP exchange, which some advisers feel is the only incentive for employers to enroll on the exchange at all.

Benefit brokers should be prepared to communicate ACA updates and answer questions both in-person and via new technology to reach employees.

The emergence of public and private health insurance exchanges, as well as the ongoing shift toward placing more responsibility on workers for health plan decisions, is creating a new normal for employers and employees alike.

Potentially a result of complaints from consumers and increased competition on the ACA exchanges, benefit brokers may be pleased to find more options on the 2015 plans.

With some state-run exchanges struggling, brokers and agents contemplate whether a national Healthcare.gov is possible and whether that would be a good or a bad thing for the insurance community.

Benefit brokers should be turning their sights to the capabilities of health care data to improve employer clients’ employees’ health. There are doctors asking for even more potential from computer algorithms to interpret such data and could provide a glimpse into the future.

Despite all the technical glitches with Healthcare.gov and state-run exchanges during open enrollment, a large majority of Americans researching health plan options relied on websites for information, but supplemented their research with other outlets for answers, including brokers and advisers.

Commentary: One of America’s most enduring mysteries is why the organizations that pay for most health care don’t work together to force better value from the health care industry.

This figure is about one-third less than previously estimated, after the Obama administration created exemptions from the fine.

Millions of ACA application inconsistencies come as no surprise to benefit advisers and could trigger an influx of business to brokers from confused 2015 ACA enrollees.

Advisers looking to protect themselves and their clients from professional negligence or malpractice suits need to enter into an engagement letter, according to an ERISA attorney.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell was confirmed Thursday by the U.S. Senate as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, replacing Kathleen Sebelius and signaling a new stage for Obamacare.

Commentary: Blogger Rob Lieblein offers insight as to why private exchanges really are the future of benefits and where benefit brokers and advisers should be in the process of hopping on the exchange train.

Industry experts say that while unlikely, the historically stable product line may have the potential for price changes as its sales continue to rise.

CMS says benefit brokers and advisers are expected to be able to enroll their small business clients on the federal SHOP exchange online by sometime later this year.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced training and registration dates, along with requirements, for benefit advisers and brokers who want to enroll small business employers on the federally facilitated SHOP exchange.

Benefit advisers are poised to close the gap between employers’ need to control health costs and comply with the health law and employees’ lack of interest in taking ownership of their health care choices.

Benefit insiders predict a steep decline in small business group health insurance sales in the coming years, which could prove harmful for many independent brokers and agents.

The IRS this month clarified for benefit advisers and their clients that employers cannot escape ACA penalties and taxes via pre-tax premium reimbursement plans.

Benefit broker compensation problems, an existing health law and a tough exchange board have forced advisers in this state to take a backseat to the implementation of Obamacare.