Employee Notification for Premium Assistance Programs
|
| Please alert your clients about their responsibility to provide notice to all employees, including those not enrolled in the health plan, about premium assistance programs that might be available for themselves and their families. The notice must be provided on an annual basis. Groups with effective dates on or after March 1, 2010 need to provide this notice to employees by May 1, 2010. Groups who renewed in January or February 2010 must provide this notice for the first time when they renew in 2011. Click here to view a model Medicare and Child Health Insurance Program notice. |
Statement of Health/Enrollment Form
|
| In our March edition, we notified you that the Statement of Health/Enrollment Form has been modified to include a more extensive health questionnaire and requested that this form be submitted for all groups with an April 1, 2010 effective date or later. We will honor the old forms for any group with an April or May 2010 effective date. However, we will no longer be accepting the forms for groups who will be effective on June 1, 2010 or after. The Broker Tool Kit on www.southernhealth.com has the new Statement of Health/Enrollment Form on it. Please discard any previous versions you may have in your office and use this form exclusively. Thank you. |
Mental Health Parity Legislative Update
|
|
In February 2010, guidance was released clarifying the impact of the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 on benefit plans. This legislation affects all sponsors of group benefit plans with over 50 employees, whether they are fully insured or self-funded, and regardless of whether they are subject to ERISA. Coventry Health Care is working diligently to determine the employer's size to ensure that no employer that should be subject to the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 is sold a benefit plan that is not in compliant with the act. Should Coventry Health Care sell a non-compliant benefit plan, we will be subject to substantial fines and penalties. Ask yourself the following three questions when determining whether your client needs to comply with the Mental Health Parity Act.
-
Did the group have an average of at least 50 employees during the preceding calendar year?
-
Is this group part of a group of corporations or entities under common control that files a consolidated tax return?
-
If so, did the groups that are part of the consolidated tax return employ an average of more than 50 employees during the preceding calendar year?
|
New Plan Available in benefitexpress for July 2010
|
| Coventry Health Care has added a new benefit plan to the suite of Qualified High Deductible Health Plan (QHDHP) products available in benefitexpress. New and renewing groups with effective dates on or after July 1, 2010 may now offer a $3,000 deductible plan with a deductible that embeds an individual deductible within the family deductible. You can find it in benefitexpress as QHDHP $0/$3000 Ded - Embedded. This new product is in addition to the current $3,000 deductible QHDHPs which have non-embedded deductibles. Please call your Account Executive or Account Manager if you have any questions about this new offering. |
| Health Reform Commentary |
| Click here for Coventry Health Care's statement about the new health reform legislation. |
Safe Senders
|
|
If you are not receiving emails notifying you that a new commission statement is available, please check to make sure that the following address is in your "safe senders" list. You may also use this address to send questions about your commissions.
|
Never Miss an Issue!
|
|
Remember seeing something in a past newsletter, but didn't keep the email? Not a problem anymore!
Past issues of the Broker News Flash beginning with January 2008 are now archived for easy access. Click on the link below and be directed to our past issues.
|
|
| Coventry Health Care and Southern Health are registered trade names of Southern Health Services, Inc., a Virginia HMO. PPO products are underwritten by Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company and administered by Southern Health Services, Inc. in Virginia. |
