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Deb Wilkinson to be a Panelist on ABC27’s “Your Health, Your Choice” Live Townhall Event WHTM abc27 will offer a live interactive special to help Central Pennsylvanians navigate the Affordable Care Act. The public outreach campaign is entitled “abc27 Your Health Your Choice”. On Thursday, February 13 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., abc27 will present a live interactive special at the York branch YMCA. It will be hosted by Dennis Owens on location and Alicia Richards at the abc27 studios. A panel of health care experts will answer questions received in advance from viewers and from the invited studio audience. Click here for more information or to get a seat in the audience. Visit the abc27 "Your Health, Your Choice" page. Watch previously recorded specials. Enrollment and Termination Policies and Processes for FFM and SPM Issuers CMS has finalized a series of processes and policies regarding enrollment and termination for issuers participating in Marketplaces using the CMS system, including Federally - facilitated Marketplaces (FFM) and State Partnership Marketplaces. Click here to read more. CBO: Obamacare Will Cost Economy 2.5 Million Workers by 2017 In devastating new estimates on the economic effects of Obamacare, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's signature health insurance law will result in a bigger reduction in working hours than previously anticipated. Click here to read more. Health Care Reform Law Dodges Another Bullet A recent Federal Court decision turned back a potentially debilitating challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s rules governing premium subsidies. The decision, Halbig v. Sebelius, has consequences for large employers, i.e., those that are subject to the Act’s employer shared responsibility or “pay-or-play” rules. Click here to read more. PPACA Carriers Might Have to Expand Networks (Bloomberg) -- Insurers participating in Obamacare may have to expand their plans to include more federally funded health clinics, safety-net hospitals and other medical providers used by low-income people, under a U.S. proposal. Click here to read more. HealthCare.gov Can’t Handle Appeals of Enrollment Errors Tens of thousands of people who discovered that HealthCare.gov made mistakes as they were signing up for a health plan are confronting a new roadblock: The government cannot yet fix the errors. Click here to read more. IRS Expects More Than 11 Million PPACA Contacts The Internal Revenue Service will have its hands full trying to meet the customer service needs created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The agency expects to get 11.4 million PPACA-related contacts from individuals during the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. Click here to read more.
Weekly PPACA Update Conference Call We recognize that many of you have questions that need answered in regards to the PPACA Law (Obamacare) and the opening of the Marketplaces on 10-1-2013. So, in a continuing effort to assist our agent-partners in getting the information they need to flourish within the under 65 group and individual health market, we are implementing a weekly telephone conference that will serve as a place to get your questions answered and discuss topics that will lead to your continued success in the health insurance market. Click here to register. Weekly PPACA Conference Call Archives Click here to view the archived recordings of the PPACA Conference Calls.
NAHU Launches “Agent-Finder” Website NAHU’s “Agent-Finder” web site promotes the role of agents/brokers and directs visitors to NAHU’s “Find an Agent” feature. The focus of this phase of the campaign is a Google keyword ad/word phrase buy. We are purchasing 176 health insurance-related keywords. Some examples of our keywords include health insurance agent, affordable health plans and finding cheap heath insurance. We’ve created 39 new ads so that when an individual searches for one of our keywords such as “buy healthcare coverage” in Google then the user may see a link to the new Agent-Finder website in the "Ads" section of the search results. I’ve attached a screen shoot as an example. The goal is to have consumers click on our ad, which directs them to the new website. The website is very consumer-friendly and highlights the value of using agents/brokers and links to NAHU’s “Find an Agent” feature. Behind the scenes through Google Analytics we can track which search terms and ads are generating the most clicks, and adjust our strategy accordingly. We are also tracking "conversions" for each user that comes to the site via an AdWord ad. A successful conversion occurs when someone visits the agent-finder.org site, enters a zip code, and gets to the search results page. In order to maximize the benefit of this new media campaign, please encourage all NAHU members to keep their contact information current and to return “Agent-Finder” consumer inquiries. The individuals using this feature have one goal—to find health insurance. If NAHU member information isn’t up-to-date or consumer phone calls aren’t returned, not only is it a lost sale but NAHU’s reputation is put at risk. We will be using our social media platforms and electronic newsletters to promote this new campaign. This phase of the campaign will continue for 90 days. The second phase of the campaign will begin in February and includes radio tours and Facebook banner ads. Visit the Agent Finder Website. CMS Updates Exchange Plan Agent Advice Any health insurers that want to sell "qualified health plans" (QHPs) through the federal exchanges in 2015 should keep tabs on agents' and brokers' business names. QHP issuers also ought to make sure that exchange agents and brokers agree not to discriminate. Click here to read more. CBO Nearly Triples Estimate of Working Hours Lost by 2021 Due to Affordable Care Act A historically high number of people will be locked out of the workforce by 2021, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday. President Barack Obama's signature health-care law will contribute to this phenomenon, the CBO said, citing new estimates that the Affordable Care Act will cause a larger-than-expected reduction in working hours—eliminating the equivalent of about 2.3 million workers in 2021. Click here to read more. NAHU Washington Update – Republican Replacement Almost immediately following PPACA being signed into law, Republican members of Congress kicked off their “repeal and replace campaign.” Until recently, the majority, if not all, of their efforts were focused on the “repeal” component of the campaign, meaning that any bills that received serious consideration from the party had to strike down at least part of the law. Click here to read more. Congress Considers More Mandate Bills The House Ways and Means Committee is considering a bill that could narrow the scope of the employer health insurance “shared responsibility” requirements. The committee plans to mark up the mandate bill Tuesday morning. Click here to read more.
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