Practice management

The “bugs” that have plagued the rollout of U.S. health insurance exchanges will be fixed by Dec. 15, said Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, the lead author of the 2010 health care law.

In the most populous state in nation, agents are not happy with the way the state-run health care exchange is treating them and there are many more road bumps to cross in the near future, said a San Diego-area broker Friday at AHIP’s State Issues Conference.

The shutdown is over and the debt ceiling has been vaulted, but those watching the deal come out of Congress say just because the ACA and employee benefits were largely left out of the fray, it doesn’t mean they won’t feature prominently in future budget debates.

After the partisan passions and heated rhetoric, the disruptions of a government shutdown and displays of dysfunction, Congress did what it could have done weeks ago: voted to fund the government and lift the debt limit.

Exactly how bad are things on the federal health care exchanges? Sunday’s New York Times brought a deeply reported piece from Robert Pear, Sharon LaFraniere and Ian Austen.

State-run exchange sees small drop as agent certification picks up, with ‘big win’ for agent community about to be revealed.

The U.S. health care law’s tax penalty for not carrying medical coverage next year may catch millions of Americans off-guard.

Senate leaders are poised to reach an agreement as early as today to bring a halt to the fiscal standoff, and now must race the clock to sell the plan to lawmakers before U.S. borrowing authority runs out this week.

Eleven days into the federal government shutdown, employee benefits attorneys assess the short-term and long-term potential implications for your business and benefits strategy.

Cigna has instructed brokers to halt selling insurance to individuals who are subsidy-eligible through its federal health care exchange broker portals.

A LIMRA study shows an overwhelming majority of small employers are eager to work with advisers, and the man who helped create the ACA has a message for how brokers can be successful.

California said 28,699 people were signed up in the state’s health insurance exchange in the first week, while New York had more than 40,000 sign up. But what did brokers have to say from the front lines?

Insurers are getting faulty and incomplete data from the new federal-run health exchange, which may mean some Americans won’t be covered even after they sign up for an insurance plan.

Your errors and omissions insurance might not cover what you think it does.

Consumers couldn’t access parts of the U.S. government’s online insurance exchange Monday, after a weekend of technical upgrades failed to eliminate delays in the hobbled system at the heart of the health care overhaul.

Will Heavin averaged 5-6 inquires a day last week, all from developing signage and opening his office doors for the public to walk in and find out about the exchanges.

Exchange prep, however, will go a long way to help employers prepare for the delayed employer mandate. Figure out whether you are an applicable large employer and if you are, start measuring. Otherwise, you could be left scrambling.

Eager to meet client needs — and keep their business — brokers hunt for information on individual exchanges, but are cautioned not to ignore the SHOP market.

On Facebook, brokers were quick to share their experiences of looking at and attempting to work with the exchanges.

Questions arise about phone enrollment on the East Coast, while the West Coast deals with a backlog that’s left brokers without necessary certification.