MORE CHANGES IN HEALTH REFORM FROM THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Once again the Obama administration is making changes to the Affordable Care Act Law. "If you want to keep your health plan, you can keep your health plan".  When this was found out to be untrue, the Obama administration changed the law to allow the States to make the decision if they wanted individuals losing their coverage be allowed to keep it. This ends up falling on the insurance companies who have been working feverishly to abide by the laws under the ACA, spending millions and millions of dollars on technology, compliance and communication to make sure their insureds don't fall through the cracks only to have to go back and say "never mind President Obama says it's OK to keep your plan".  Well, many insurance companies said no or gave a small window of time to go back and re-enroll in their previous plan.  However, this was only for a year and would then need to elect a reform plan.  So, now, because their are still so many uninsured's the administration is allowing those individuals who lost their coverage be allowed to purchase "Catastrophic" coverage under the reform plans under the "hardship provision".  Normally, these plans are only reserved for people under 30 years old (young and invincible plans). Keep in mind though, you may still end paying more for that catastrophic plan than you were paying for your previous plan you were forced to give up under the Affordable Care Act. As it stands now, if you were one of those people who gave up their personal plan and are not able to get that plan back, the individual mandate does not apply to you for another year.

CAREFIRST DECIDES HOW TO HANDLE THE PRESIDENTS CHANGE OF HEART

As we all know the President is now allowing the states to decide whether they let individuals keep their plans if they want. (Even if they aren't grandfathered)  It appears that this would only be a one year reprieve in any regard.  It also passes the buck to the States.  There was also a question if small employer groups would be allowed to remain with their current plans without having to be forced into reform coverage.  According to Carefirst, Individuals who have received termination notices will be given the opportunity to remain on their current plans if they renew them by mid-December.  In reference to the small group employers (those under 50 full-time employees)  there will be no change from current procedure.  In other words, non-grandfathered small group plans will need to move to reform plans at their renewal in 2014.  

NEVERMIND, YOU CAN KEEP YOUR PLAN.....ATLEAST FOR INDIVIDUALS

Today in a statement from the President, individual policyholders will now be allowed to maintain their current health plan if they so choose.  This was on the heels of tremendous pressure put on the President because of statements made by him....."if you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan, period".  As we all know this turned out to be untrue.  What seems to be overlooked are all of the individuals and families in employer based coverage being forced into reform plans. (Employer Group Under 50 Employees)  If employer based plans are not "Grandfathered" same as individual market, they would lose their current plan and be forced into a plan that now conforms to the Affordable Care Act (health reform).  The individual market is being addressed, the small group employer market is being overlooked.  

THE NUMBERS ARE IN!

Kathleen Sebelius annouced today the approximate count of people getting covered or expected to get coverage through exchanges/medicaid.   The big winners are people getting Medicaid and the big losers..........everyone else.  During the first month there were approximately 107,000 people who were able to log into the exchanges (Federal and State) and actually sign up for a plan. This is far, far, far below the estimates as one would imagine.  However, there were approximately 390,000 that were deemed eligible for medicaid or some other government funded plans. The problem that one would immediately see is that Medicaid has no income, meaning it is, for the most part, funded by the government (taxpayers) with no or little cost to the recipient.  If the administration was hoping that people paying into the system were going to help offset this, we may have a problem if the trend continues.  

Additionally, hopefully the administration will pull-back on not allowing people to keep their current health plan.  More than 11 Million people who purchased individual plans would be forced from their plan to purchase reform coverage.  This is not exactly what our President said we would be able to do.  

To be continued..................

INDIVIDUAL MANDATE DEADLINE DELAYED

With the roll-out of the Health Exchanges on October 1, 2013 came a host of problems and computer glitches that kept would-be participants from enrolling in Exchange Plans through the Maryland State and/or Federal Websites.  Due to these hurdles, the Administration is pushing the Individual Mandate Date (date which most citizens must have coverage or face a penalty) back from January 1, 2014 to March 31, 2014.  Many senate democrats are also calling for a push-back on the "Open Enrollment" time-frame as well.  

AN EASIER WAY TO FIND RATES AND POTENTIAL SUBISIDES FOR REFORM PLANS

Anyone tried to get on the Maryland Health Connection website to see how affordable the health plans are?  From time to time I was successful and generated a couple scenario plans for clients.  What I found was that you needed to input a lot of information to find out if there were any Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTC/Subsidies) available as well as the cost of the various "Medal" plans (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum).  In addition, I also found that Carefirst, in many age bands, appeared to have the most competitive rates. Below is a link through our Portal (Brooks Benefit Services), that allows you to search, review, and see if you are eligible for APTC/Subsidies and apply for coverage if you don't. If you do qualify, you can only get those APTC's/Subsidies through the Maryland Health Connection Website. The Carefirst website is much easier, less time consuming, and will not log you off in the middle of doing a search.  Here is the Carefirst Medical Plan link. Please note that when you input the plan start date you should choose January 1, 2014.  If you do qualify for the "Subsidies" please feel free to contact me, Ben Brooks,  for assistance at 410-239-5009 or ben@brooksbenefit.com.  

MARYLAND HEALTH CONNECTION, SORT OF UP AND RUNNING

What a day.  We have had a partial government shutdown and the Maryland Health Exchanges are up and running, well sort of.  Trying all day to get into the exchange to compare rates, plans and features was met with absolutely no success. What I do know from some of my clients who were able to get rates, they were not very happy.  In fact very disappointed to find out that they were going to be paying the same or higher rates for inferior plans than they currently have.  It is important to remember that the Affordable Care Act is suppose to make plans both more affordable, accessible and provide decent coverage to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to obtain medical insurance in the individual market. 

Most brokers/consultants have taken the appropriate training to become certified to sell these plans both inside and outside of the Maryland Health Connection.  We are trying hard to educate not only the employers but the employees as well. Below please note the Maryland Health Connection logo and our reference ID which we would appreciate the employees using when completing applications as this not only credits our firm but also keeps the employees connected to our clients through Brooks Benefit Services.  In the upcoming weeks/months we will be reaching out to offer a time to set-up educational meeting for your employees.   If you would like to schedule a meeting in the meantime or request a copy of the PowerPoint Presentation, please do not hesitate to contact us at 410-239-5009 or ben@brooksbenefit.com.

Brooks Benefit Services, LLC

Benjamin Brooks

Consumer Assistance Reference ID: 9000054278