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Highmark Channel Insights March/April 2014 Inside you will find valuable information to help you successfully serve your customers and grow your Highmark book of business. Click here to read more. Blue Cross of Northeastern PA Broker E-Bulletin We continually analyze opportunities to enhance and improve services for our brokers. In an effort to provide optimal service, we have developed a Quote and Sales Checklist that outlines everything you’ll need to obtain a quote and finalize a sale in the small group, large group and self-funded markets. Click here to read more. Highmark Update - Fitzgerald Announces Allegheny County to Stay with Highmark Through 2015 Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald announced today that Allegheny County will exclusively retain Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield for its health care coverage through December 31, 2015, regardless of whether any agreement is reached with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Click here to read more. NAHU: Exchanges, We See Your 7 Million and Raise You 2 Million More As open enrollment, slowly but surely, comes to a close across the country the question on everyone’s mind seems to be “How many people have actually enrolled?” 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.
Compliance Notice: Individual Health Plans and the ACA Released on September 13, 2013, IRS Notice 2013-54 addresses the viability of individual health insurance plans as a tax-advantaged employee benefit under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Unfortunately, the news was not good for employers wanting to offer such plans to their employees: the IRS determined that such plans are prohibited under the ACA. Click here to read more. Burwell has insurance ties The health insurance and employee benefits communities have had much less experience with Sylvia Mathews Burwell — the new Health and Human Services secretary nominee — than they have had with the outgoing secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. Click here to read more. Net Cost of ObamaCare ObamaCare's coverage provisions will cost the federal government $1.4 trillion (net) over the next 10 fiscal years, according to the CBO. That is the net cost to the federal government of the provisions to expand and subsidize health insurance coverage over the fiscal 2015-2024 period. Click here to read more. Prices Soaring for Specialty Drugs, Researchers Find Even as the cost of prescription drugs has plummeted for many Americans, a small slice of the population is being asked to shoulder more and more of the cost of expensive treatments for diseases like cancer and hepatitis C, according to a report to be released on Tuesday by a major drug research firm. Click here to read more. Thousands of layoffs at hospitals have some pushing for more help Congress has approved a so-called "doc fix" (for the 17th time), which prevents cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors for another year, and has extended aid for rural hospitals, but some Pennsylvania hospitals are struggling. Click here to read more. Burwell hearing could reignite PPACA debate Republican lawmakers said hearings on Sylvia Mathews Burwell’s nomination as U.S. Health and Human Services secretary provide a fresh opening to raise questions about President Barack Obama’s health care law. Click here to read more. Supplemental sales booming for brokers The Patient Protection and Affordable Care act is creating enormous opportunities for brokers to sell supplemental plans, not only to help cover increasing deductibles in employer-based and exchange-based plans, but also as a cheaper alternative to both. Click here to read more.
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