California's Rate Regions

Currently health insurance companies average 9 rate regions in California.  Meaning that in one geographical are the cost of insurance is one price and in another geographical area the cost is a different amount.  When the Federal Government passed PPACA, they proposed every state have a maximum of 7 regions.  California, because of its size, asked for more regions.  The administration agreed to a maximum of 19 regions.  Next week our state legislature will be voting to see how many geographical areas they think we should have.  Some Democratic legislatures want the rates based on economic areas, thus creating a less expensive rate for poorer areas, making wealthier regions pay more.  In theory we could have a different rate for every zip code or one rate for all of California.  Both ends of the spectrum are unlikely, but what we know is that more than 19 regions will likely not be approved by the Federal Government.  So we must wait and see what our state legislature does.

We will continue to keep you updated and if you would like to receive our newsletter please email us at angela@ansainsuranceservices.com  or call us at 714-680-5900.  If you are in the Santa Fe Springs area over the next three months we will be holding updates on the health care law with the Santa Fe Springs Chamber of Commerce.  If you would like information on dates and times please call Christy Lindsay at the SFS Chamber office 562-944-1616.

California's Doctor Shortage

In a truly interesting article from the Los Angeles Times on February 9, 2013 Michael Mishak writes about the problems facing California's health care system and the providers that deliver that care.  He notes that law makers are working to solve the problems of access to doctors by increasing the responsibilities of other health care workers such as nurse practitioners, optometrists, and pharmacists.  Click on the link to read the full article:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/09/local/la-me-doctors-20130210 It will be well worth your time.

CMS - Requesting Information from Employers

Be on the look out for information from your health carrier if you are an employer.  CMS is  requesting that the health carriers submit the tax ID's of every employer group they have.  In addition, they are requesting data on employee count.  The goal is to have a world wide employee count.  Your carrier should be notifying you soon that they will be requiring some additional information from you.  This is just another piece of the health care law's puzzle. 

What Will Happen to Part-Time Workers?

According to research from the ADP Research Institute and reported by Jeffrey Young in Huffpost's Business, employers will be more likely to reduce the hours of their part-time staff, to make sure they are nowhere near the 30 hour mandatory coverage under PPACA (Obama Care) in 2014 and beyond.  Right now only about 8% of part-time employees are enrolled in their company's health insurance plan even though many more are offered insurance.  The reason for this disparity is that most part-time employees can not afford their portion of the premium for their plan.

Overall around 150 million Americans get their benefits from an employer sponsored plan.  For the majority of the full time and highly compensated employees, they will see very little change under the health care law.  But for those hourly and lower compensated employees, they may see big changes.  Larger companies are looking to see if paying the fines will be less expenses than trying to insure those employees and they are looking at keeping the part-time employees at a reduced part-time status with little chance of earning money by working a few more hours.  We will see what ends up actually happening.

More Information on the Individual Exchange

Alright, here are some more details about the health exchange and who qualifies.  First, individuals and families that are making up to 400% of the federal poverty limit will be eligible for subsidies in the exchange (Covered California).  What does that mean in real world numbers.  For a family of 4 they can make up to $92,200 and for an individual they can make up to $44,680.  How much in subsidies will a family of four making $92,000 get?  We don't know yet.  We just know they will be eligible for the subsidies.  **Note that the income will be based on 2012 income taxes.

Now what about those that just don't make enough money to pay anything?  They are already qualified for Medi-Cal.  Starting in the near future we will see a huge push to get the nearly quarter million to half million people that are believed to be qualified for Medi-Cal but have not yet applied for it enrolled in it. 

Stay tuned for more Covered California news.  You can always contact us at 714-680-5900 or email us at info@ansainsuranceservices.com .

March 1st Deadline for Employers

The March 1st deadline for employers to notify employees of the up and coming health care exchange has been postponed indefinitely.  The Department of Labor is hoping to have something ready by late summer or fall.  The notifications were meant to inform employees of the health exchanges and their potential benefits.  The DOL is coordinating with the IRS and the HHS to draft  a generic notice that could satisfy the requirement for employers to use.  We will notify you when they come up with a new deadline.

Don't forget today is National Wear Red Day for women's awareness of heart health.  Women do not exhibit the same symptoms as men.