GROUP OPEN ENROLLMENT

For many if not most small groups (100 employees or less) the fourth quarter of the year brings plan changes and premium increases.  In and of itself this can be daunting, but if done right the transition should be a time of renewed assurance that what you as an employer are providing is the best for your employees under your current situation.   It is also a time to review other options that add value to your company.  Additional benefits (such as life insurance, long term care, short term disability insurance and others ancillary products) provide a substantial value for your employees at a relatively low cost or no cost to you.  We have found that the more benefits the company offers, (employer sponsored or employee paid), the less likely employees are to leave the employer.  

At Ansa Insurance Services we reinforce these values with your employees at our enrollment meetings.  As your employee's trusted advisors we highlight the benefits you provide and make sure they understand the value of the benefits they are receiving.  It does not matter if you are paying for those extras, they only have access to them through their employment with you.  Please call us today to see how we can help you create a benefits package that will pop!

What's Going on with "Obamacare" Here in California

Are you wondering what is going on with the health care law right now here in California?  There have been a plethora of articles and news reports put out over the last few weeks on this exact topic.  Some articles pertain to California, some to other states, and others are an overview of the law as it affects the country as a whole.  But last week here in California two articles showed up, and though they were not trying to, they did manage to illuminate some of the real world obstacles faced with implementing this law.  The first article by Matthias Gafni from the Contra Costa Times highlights the problems employers face with trying to deliver services while at the same time trying to keep operating costs down.  The issue in this article is that the employer is this state's health exchange, and more precisely the highly sought after call center.  The call center was reported to bring 200 well paying jobs with benefits to the area.  The problem is though the call center is bringing 200 jobs only 100 are full time jobs with benefits (what we are talking about is mainly health insurance).  The other 100 employees will be part-time with no health insurance.  This is exactly what employees and employers all over the state face daily.  To read the article click on the link below:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_23733819/concord-half-call-center-jobs-will-be-part

The second article of note was by Michael R. Blood of The San Diego Union-Tribune.  It is about the $300 million being spent in our state to advertise and promote the health care exchange (CoveredCA).  The law, according to this article, needs to be sold to people.  They need to hear about it on the radio, television and see it on the internet.  They want people to hear and see it morning, noon and night.  One example of the spending is on the $18 million that is being spent just on fees to one public relations firm.  It is fascinating and unprecedented, never before has a government program had to be sold to the people like this program does.  To read more about this click on the link below:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/24/calif-to-see-wave-of-spending-to-sell-obamacare/

What will happen with health care in our state?  I don't know.  But what I do know is that we will all still need good and affordable health care.  If you need it or have concerns about it, please feel free to call us here at 714-680-5900 or email us at info@ansainsruanceservices.com .  You can always find us on the web at www.ansainsruanceservices.com .

Another Health Carrier to Leave California

Last month it was Aetna announcing that they were leaving the individual health market here in California, now this month United Health Care announces that they are leaving as well.  It is important to note that they are leaving just the individual and family plan markets, not employer sponsored group plans or Medicare plans. It is important to note that Aetna and United combined only carried about 8% of the individual market this past year.  They never caught on competitively to the new rules and regulations that California set over the past two years.  Once mandatory maternity was introduced last year their rates and plans never came close to the other carriers.  With that said, it is still sad that there will be less choice for consumers overall and it begs the question "who will we see leave next?"  For those of you that are on either an Aetna or United plan, you will need to find a new carrier prior to January 1, 2014.  If you have questions on what to do, you can email us at info@ansainsuranceservices.com or call us at 714-680-5900.

The Five Things You Need to Know Before Obama Care Hits Full Force

For us in the insurance industry there are literally thousands of things we need to know about "Obama Care" or PPACA as we prefer to call it.  PPACA reaches everywhere and touches different people, industries, regions etc. in a plethora of ways.  To say PPACA is complicated is like saying the ocean is a little wet.  But as we reach outside our office we see that there is a great need to understand the law and what it means and doesn't mean.  I can sit here and write for days and days and still not touch upon the issues or details that might mean the most to you.  So I have condensed it into 5 hot spots that I think people should know.

1)  It's not going away! - Cry all you want it is here and moving forward.  Now the trick is to deal with it.
2) There will be winners and losers! - The winners will be those people that have tried to be responsible and purchase insurance, but have been unable to because they had preexisting  conditions.  They had been kept out of the market and were not allowed to "play" so to speak.  There are also those that have made too much to qualify for government programs but could not afford coverage on their own.  They will now be able to enter expanded programs or be given subsidies for their insurance.  The losers will be the people that hardly used their insurance, but had purchased very basic policies to cover them in the event of a major injury or illness.  They are now forced to pay for benefits they will never use.  Take for instance a client of mine who is a 60 year old male.  He is in remarkable shape, takes very good care of himself and enjoys his life as a single grandpa.  He now has included in his medical plan maternity benefits, Autism benefits, and free mammograms and oral contraception.  Will he ever need those benefits? No, but he now pays for them.
3) Health plans will look different! - Beginning in 2014 the health plans will all be divided into "metallic" plan designs.  What this means is that they will all be assessed an actuarial value.  Depending on that value they will be classified as either Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum.  Bronze will be the most basic at an actuarial value of 60%.  That means that if an average procedure were to cost $10,000 the plan would pay $6,000 and the insured would be responsible for the other $4,000.  Silver will be 70% so that same $10,000 procedure would be spit with the plan paying $7,000 and the insured paying $3,000.  The gold plan is a 80% plan and platinum is 90%.  Please note that these are actuarial amounts.  Each plan will have those values worked into it's formulas, you may not see them if you don't have a large claim.
4 ) The "Exchange" is not a place! - It is a mechanism to figure out who gets subsidies and what plans qualify for those subsidies.  Here in California our exchange is Covered California. 
5) You think you have it tough? The employers have it tough! - There are so many new regulations coming out for employers, they wont see day light for quite some time.  The paper work will be endless, the compliance will be daunting and costly and the regulations are a moving target.  They will need all the help they can get and maybe a nice glass of wine to help at the end of the day.

So now that you know all that are you ready for Obama Care?  If you have questions or need answers please feel free to call us any time at 714-680-5900.  We are ready!

Covered California - Rates Higher or Lower?

Peter Lee's announcement that the Covered California health plans will cost the same or less in some areas has drawn a lot of press this week.  Is he right or wrong?  Is he comparing apples to apples or apples to oranges?  Well, here it is in a nutshell. The premiums he is comparing over the two year period are 2013 small group premiums and what will be 2014 individual premiums.  Those of us in the insurance business have known that small group benefits are richer than most individual plans, thus they have historically cost more.  That being said, many individuals were able to get a break on prices for picking plans that do not offer all those rich benefits that were mandated into small group plans.  Some of these touted benefits are prescription drugs, free physicals, free oral contraception, physical therapy, and prior to last July maternity.  Thus prior to the health care law a single male that was healthy and not on any prescriptions could benefit from a lower priced plan and not worry about the plans benefits not being as rich as group plans.  For many this was seen as a positive.  For some however, these watered down benefits were a disaster.  If someone purchased a bare bones, high deductible plan because it was cheep then had developed health problems they were stuck in that plan.  In a sense they were paying for something that was not giving them any benefits.  I believe this became such a big problem, because more and more individuals purchased their insurance on-line or without a broker.  They did not have anyone explain the risk they were taking on by purchasing these low cost plans.  As a broker I know I would steer my clients away from such plans.  Only in a few instances were these plans appropriate.  But for the people that these plans were appropriate for the law adversely affects them.  They are now forced to buy richer plans. 

The unfortunate thing about this law is that what happened before will still happen.  People that can not afford a rich plan, gold or platinum, will buy a bronze plan.  Bronze plans actuarially work out to be a 60% - 40% plan, meaning that the insurance carrier pays 60% of the expenses and the insured pays 40%.  A very simplistic example of this would be a person that goes to a doctor and the bill is $100.00.  The carrier would pay $60.00 and the insured would pay $40.00.  That sounds fare right?  Well what if they need to have a procedure that cost $10,000.00?  The carrier would pay $6,000 and the individual would pay $4,000.00.  Most people that chose to be on a basic plan still can not pay $4,000.00 for a service.  I see just as many people having trouble paying for their care now with this law as I did before.  Even when you factor is the subsides that many people will be able to receive and that most people will be on silver plans (70%/30%) people will be forced into delaying care or forgoing it all together. 

To avoid these pitfalls it will be imperative that people talk to professionals and know what their financial situation can handle.  We don't have crystal balls to see into our future and planning for the unplanned is what insurance is all about.  Don't go it alone. 

If you have questions about health insurance please feel free to call Angela and Lisa at 714-680-5900 or email us at info@ansainsruanceservices.com .  For information on Covered California check out their web site at www.coveredca.com . 

CEO of Western Health Advantage Sees Rates Rising 40% to 70%

Garry Maisel, CEO of Western Health Advantage thinks individual health insurance premiums could rise anywhere between 40% to 70% next year in the health care exchanges.  He is quoted in the Sacramento Bee's May 10, 2013 article as saying "We have to reset the benchmark." He spells out the reasons for the rate increases and the benefits that will come with those rate increases.  To read the full article click on the link below:
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2013/05/10/insurance-exec-sees-rate-spike-under.html

Much of the reasons he gives we have already spelled out in previous blogs, but it is still a great article for it's condensed yet thorough interpretation of what is happening in the health insurance world.

If you would like more information on other health insurance carriers in your area please contact us at info@ansainsuranceservices.com or call us at 714-680-5900.

California Lawmakers Grant Unusual Secrecy for Contracts Related to Health Exchange

Apparently lawmakers in California think it is okay to grant blanket privacy rules on contracts that relate to activities within the California Health Exchange (Covered California).  According to the AP in an article from the Washington Post, May 9, 2013 California lawmakers are alone in the nation with the amount of privacy granted to outside firms awarded contracts within California.  No other state has built in to it's laws such widespread secrecy rules.  The law is completely supported by the Assembly Speaker, John Perez and opposed by State Senator Sam Aanestad.  To read the full article click the link below, it is eye opening!
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-09/national/39124820_1_covered-california-california-exchange-state-constitution

Is it wise to impose such secrecy at a time when many feel that the health care law is already overreaching?  If you have an opinion on this please contact your state representatives.  If you would like to get more information on health insurance in general or how the law will affect you personally please contact us at info@ansainsuranceservices.com or call us at 714-680-5900.