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Individual/Family Health

Health wonk reading for the Memorial Day weekend

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Julie Ferguson did an outstanding job with this week’s Health Wonk Review, and it’s full of great articles from our favorite health wonks. A must-read is Charles Gaba’s excellent run-down on what you need to know about rate increase filings.  Gaba’s is the wizard behind ACAsignups.net, and he does an outstanding job of crunching up… Read more about Health wonk reading for the Memorial Day weekend

The Luis Lang story – an update and my own thoughts

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Last week, Ann Doss Helms wrote an article for the Charlotte Observer about Luis Lang, a SC man with diabetes who will go blind if he doesn’t get eye surgery in the near future.  In a nutshell, Luis Lang is a Republican who opted to ignore the ACA’s individual mandate in 2014, and he also… Read more about The Luis Lang story – an update and my own thoughts

Health Wonkery – replacing Obamacare, covering undocumented immigrants, and much more

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Joe Paduda did an excellent job with the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review over at Managed Care Matters.  My favorite post in the HWR comes from Tim Jost, writing at Health Affairs.  His article, about what would replace the ACA if it were repealed, is an excellent read.  Jost digs deep into the… Read more about Health Wonkery – replacing Obamacare, covering undocumented immigrants, and much more

A new job is not a qualifying event for a SEP

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Now that open enrollment is over, the only way people can enroll in individual health plans is with a qualifying event.  This applies both on and off the exchange. Outside of open enrollment, individual/family health insurance is only for sale if you’ve got a special enrollment period triggered by a qualifying event. So what constitutes… Read more about A new job is not a qualifying event for a SEP

What if your coverage gap spans two calendar years?

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Last week, I wrote a post detailing exactly how the ACA’s “short coverage gap” exemption works.  In a nutshell, as long as your gap in coverage is less than three months long and you maintain coverage for the rest of the year, you don’t have to pay a penalty for being without coverage. In that… Read more about What if your coverage gap spans two calendar years?

Short Gap in ACA coverage – IRS Says Three Months is Too Long

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One of the exemptions from the ACA’s individual mandate penalty is for people who have a short gap in ACA coverage.  According to the IRS regulations (see page 53654), there’s no penalty as long as the “continuous period without minimum essential coverage is less than three full calendar months and is the first short coverage… Read more about Short Gap in ACA coverage – IRS Says Three Months is Too Long

No Tax Season Special Enrollment Period In Colorado

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A few weeks ago, the federal government announced that people in the 37 states that use Healthcare.gov would have access to a tax season special enrollment period (SEP) if they were unaware of the ACA’s penalty for being uninsured, and found out about it at the time they filed their taxes – which could be up to… Read more about No Tax Season Special Enrollment Period In Colorado

A Tenth Anniversary Health Wonk Review at Health Business Blog

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Health Business Blog was one of the sites we used to read even before we started our own blog in 2006 – and we’ve been reading it ever since.  It’s turning ten this weekend (where does the time go?!) and to celebrate, David hosted the Health Wonk Review this week.   There are lots of great… Read more about A Tenth Anniversary Health Wonk Review at Health Business Blog

Take heart – there’s plenty of good stuff in this HWR

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Peggy Salvatore hosted the Valentine’s Day edition of the Health Wonk Review, and you don’t want to miss it.  Here are some of my favorites in this week’s HWR: Writing at Health Affairs, Ron Pollack from Families USA demonstrates the ways that the context of the ACA clearly makes subsidies available in every state.  SCOTUS is… Read more about Take heart – there’s plenty of good stuff in this HWR

Kicking off 2015 with the latest from all the wonks

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Vince Kuraitis hosted the first Health Wonk Review of 2015 – the “shake the winter blahs” edition – at his eCareManagement Blog, and it’s full of great articles.  Some of my favorites in this edition: Roy Poses, writing about the “miracle” Hepatitis C drugs and reminding us – as always – to focus on evidence…. Read more about Kicking off 2015 with the latest from all the wonks

Healthcare spending is 17% of GDP; we should expect it to be a major line item in household budgets

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This USA Today article by Laura Ungar and Jayne O’Donnell is well worth reading.  In a nutshell, it’s all about rising deductibles, and the impact they have on consumers’ ability to pay for health care.  The facts are sobering:  wages have been flat for decades, with the inflation adjusted average hourly wage only increasing by… Read more about Healthcare spending is 17% of GDP; we should expect it to be a major line item in household budgets

Connect for Health Colorado glitch shows catastrophic plans to 30-year-olds

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SEE UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST Yesterday, while running quotes for a client who turned 30 a few months ago, we noticed that Catastrophic plans were showing up for him in the quoting tool on Connect for Health Colorado.  Catastrophic plans are a provision of the ACA, and are an extra level of… Read more about Connect for Health Colorado glitch shows catastrophic plans to 30-year-olds

Make sure to know about cost sharing reduction plan eligibility

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We’re more than two weeks into open enrollment now, and things are humming along – certainly compared with the first couple weeks of open enrollment last year.  In the first two weeks, the exchange has enrolled nearly ten thousand people, including renewals and new enrollees.  But keep in mind that the time frame is shortened… Read more about Make sure to know about cost sharing reduction plan eligibility

The skinny on Colorado health plan cancellations

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Earlier this month, Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar sent a letter to Colorado’s Senate Minority Leader, detailing the upcoming policy cancellations in Colorado.  For 18,909 plan members, these policy cancellations are the result of a voluntary decision by the carriers.  For another 3,849 for SeeChange small group members, the cancellation is happening because California has… Read more about The skinny on Colorado health plan cancellations

Weekend reading from the health wonks

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In case you missed this week’s excellent Health Wonk Review, be sure to head over to Managed Care Matters for a little weekend reading.  Joe Paduda has put together a great collection of health policy articles.  Healthcare reform has been heavily partisan for the last several years (decades, really – remember the Clintons’ efforts to… Read more about Weekend reading from the health wonks