Thursday, June 13, 2013

RENEWING YOUR HEALTH PLAN EARLY (PRIOR TO JANUARY, 2014)

In a previous post strategies were discussed regarding avoiding some of the impacts of the ACA (Health Reform) beginning January 1, 2014.  As an employer new and additional taxes and fees, the elimination of average age rating, and new plan designs could affect Insurance premiums for your current health plan.  Most carriers are allowing early renewals, some are waiving their stipulations in order to do so.  For those who have a high deductible plan(s) this could be a problem as deductibles will reset.  However, some carriers are allowing a deductible carry-over for those employees who have not met their deductible and have had claims within the last three months prior to early renewal to be rolled over into the new contract year's deductible.  As mentioned, this idea of early renewal was touched on in the last post but due to its significance thought it may be a good idea to touch on it again.  The idea, if it makes sense for your firm, is to let the law get up and running instead of being a guinea pig early on.