Federally-facilitated Marketplace Agent and Broker Training and Registration for Plan Year 2015 Closing

Beginning on June 15, 2015, the 2014-2015 Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM) training and training curriculum completion certificates for Agents and Brokers will no longer be available on the Medicare Learning Network® (MLN) Learning Management System (LMS) as we prepare to launch the training for plan year 2016. Click here to read more.

Highmark Small Group Update - Revised grandmothering materials from April 28 alert

Clients with 2-50 employees who "grandmothered" their pre-ACA plans in 2014 will have the opportunity to keep their current plans when renewing with effective dates of July 1 through Dec. 1, 2015. Click here to read more.

Capital BlueCross Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) Questionnaire UPDATE & CareFirst BCBS Security Breach

The Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) Questionnaire has been updated to capture calendar year 2014 reporting. On May 20, 2015, CareFirst announced it was the target of a sophisticated cyber-attack. Click here to read more.

Aetna Health Care Reform Update for the week of May 18

We want you to have access to the latest health care reform news from Washington, D.C., and states across the country. This weekly e mail links you to updates on health reform legislation that could significantly impact you. Click here to read more.

Producer Update 5/28/15 - UPMC Health Plan announces new producer incentive program

To reward producer success with selling UPMC Health Plan products and services, the Health Plan is now offering the VIP Key Producer Program. Click here to read more.

Weekly PPACA Update Conference Call

In a continuing effort to assist our agent-partners in getting the information needed to flourish within the under 65 group and individual markets in Pennsylvania, we are holding weekly live webinars. They will serve as a place to get your questions answered and discuss topics and strategies 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.

Measurement Madness; Making ACA Reporting Easy

Learn Monitoring & measuring employee hours to comply with the ACA's Employer Mandate, How the Employer Mandate applies to your company, What ACA measurement periods are, Costs associated with non-compliance. Click here to watch the webinar. Click here to download the presentation.

PrimePay & URL | A Guide for Navigating the Employer Mandate

Learn about the employer mandate, potential penalties, case studies, and more. Click here to read more.

Obamacare Insurance Premiums to Jump, up to 51%

Major insurers in some states are proposing up to 51 percent premium increases for health plans sold under the Affordable Healthcare and Patient Protection Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare. Click here to read more.

Do 2015 HIX numbers validate employer approach?

After two years of health plan enrollments in the emerging online marketplace, it’s possible that public and private exchanges are finally converging. Click here to read more.

Senate GOP prepared to replace Obamacare subsidies

Preparing for a Supreme Court decision that could strike down Obamacare’s subsidies for nearly 7.5 million people this summer, Senate Republicans are coalescing around a plan to resurrect them — at a steep price for the White House. Click here to read more.

Tech Rivalries Impede Digital Medical Record Sharing

Since President Obama took office, the federal government has poured more than $29 billion into health information technology and told doctors and hospitals to use electronic medical records or face financial penalties. Click here to read more.

Former Connector head wants simplified ACA subsidy eligibility process

The Affordable Care Act is here to stay until at least the next presidential inauguration, but there are some fixes that can be made to make the law work better today, the former head of the Massachusetts Health Connector, often called the template for the ACA, says. Click here to read more.

‘Underinsurance’: Democrats have a new health care fight in mind

A different health care issue has emerged for Democrats, in sync with the party’s pitch to workers and middle-class voters ahead of next year’s elections. It’s not the uninsured, but rather the problem of high out-of-pocket costs for people already covered. Democrats call it “underinsurance.” Click here to read more.

Study says excise tax could affect health care savings accounts

The American Bankers Association released a study Tuesday showing that, due to regulatory uncertainty, some employers with plan costs close to the Excise Tax threshold under the Affordable Care Act are eliminating payroll contributions to health savings accounts to avoid incurring excise tax liability. Click here to read more.

Feds unveil final Obamacare out-of-pocket limits

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) just released the final regs on 2016 out-of-pocket maximums under the Affordable Care Act. Click here to read more.

Banet Health Care Briefs for May 18 - 22, 2015

Affording ACA compliant plans is difficult for many. CNBC (5/21) reports that 46 percent of ACA customers this year "said it's 'very' or 'somewhat' difficult for them to afford their monthly premiums," according to a new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Click here to read more.

URL partners with BASIC Guru

BASIC Guru has partnered with URL Insurance Group to offer a robust CRM, employer/employee benefit portal tool at a special price of $80 per month per agent on a 2 year agreement. Click here to read more.