What Would Lynn Do?  

Q:  Our company has had Health Net and Kaiser for a very long time.  Health Net has always been much more expensive but they want to provide freedom of choice to staff.  We can't afford the rate hikes. What can we do?

A:  You could:

1. Increase employee contributions from the current zero cost level for employee only coverage and 50% for dependents.
2. Shop for less expensive options and increase deductibles and out of pocket expense to reduce costs.
3. Ask employees to pay the difference between the Kaiser and Health Net costs.
4. Stop group benefits and give staff a stipend to buy their own insurance.

While all of these are reasonable options, it's not what we did when a client brought us this dilemma.  The client bit the bullet and decided to put everyone on a single-carrier plan with Kaiser.  In addition, they reduced their plan to one with a deductible requirement before certain services were covered.  Making these changes saved the client about $50,000 a year for a 15 person group. We also kept their current Kaiser plan in place if employees wanted to buy up to it with pre-tax dollars.  

Planning on Traveling this Summer? 

Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP)  

If you're in the position of having had no insurance for six months and have some existing health conditions, you may have an extremely hard time getting approved by any major provider.  We've been having excellent luck insuring folks with pre-existing conditions. 

Thankfully, there is a new option on the market called the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). As an individual seeking coverage, please give us a call and I can help you get set up with the PCIP, which is a competitive option with surprisingly good prices.

For more information about the plan, please check out the offical site. 

Medicare Advocacy 

I've recently been working with a lot of people approaching Medicare age. They come to me confused by the staggering amount of mail they are receiving. 

If you have friends or family who are perplexed by the seemingly overwhelming choice, send them my way and I can quickly set them straight. Understanding the options is very difficult and I know how to cut through the red tape quickly.    

600,000 Young Adults Now Covered Up to Age 26  

In a recent article issued by Kaiser Health News, it seems that about 600,000 young adults are now covered by their parents' health plans up to age 26.

"Hundreds of thousands of young adults are taking advantage of the health care law provision that allows people under 26 to remain on their parents' health plans, some of the nation's largest insurers are reporting. That pace appears to be faster than the government expected.

...

Others large insurers said they have added tens of thousands of young adults. Aetna, for example, added fewer than 100,000; Kaiser Permanente, about 90,000; Highmark Inc., about 72,000; Health Care Service Corp., about 82,000; Blue Shield of California, about 22,000, and United Healthcare, about 13,000.

...

Under the health law, health plans and employers must offer coverage to enrollees' adult children until age 26 even if the young adult no longer lives with his or her parents, is not a dependent on a parent's tax return, or is no longer a student.

...

The dependent coverage provision went into effect Sept. 23, 2010. However, health plans didn't have to adopt the change until the start of the subsequent plan year, which for many companies was January. In addition, dozens of insurers voluntarily adopted the change earlier, soon after President Barack Obama signed the health overhaul law in March 2010.

But while federal officials and consumer advocates are pleased that demand for dependent coverage appears greater than projected, some employers are worried about the cost of the additional coverage.

Until 2014, health plans that were in existence before the health law was enacted don't have to provide dependent coverage if the adult child's employer offers any type of health coverage. The exception does not apply to new plans."

For more information, check out the original article.  

Coverage for Children Under 19 

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