Aetna to stay in many off-exchange individual health markets
Aetna seems to like the individual commercial health insurance market more than it likes the Affordable Care Act exchange system. Read more.
Aetna, one of the country's largest health insurers, is ditching 70% of its Obamacare business
Aetna, one of the five largest health insurers in the US, announced on Monday evening that it would be pulling out of nearly 70% of the counties in which it offers coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Read more.
Introduction to Health Care Reform
The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more commonly known as Health Care Reform, implements sweeping changes that affect individual and employer-sponsored health plans. Learn more.
Announcing Updates to Starmark Self-Funded Plan Designs!
To better meet our clients’ needs and ensure our plan designs encourage the most cost-effective care, changes have been implemented to Starmark’s self-funded plan designs. Read more.
Cost, Not Choice, Is Top Concern of Health Insurance Customers
It is all about the price. Millions of people buying insurance in the marketplaces created by the federal health care law have one feature in mind. It is not finding a favorite doctor, or even a trusted company. Read more.
Digging into BlueCross’ big rate hike
BCBST's average premium increase of 62 percent is one of the country's largest. But there's more to the story. Read more.
How The White House Aims To Push Obamacare Risk Onto States
The Obama administration is encouraging states to come up with their own reinsurance plans. Read more.
Hikes In Employees' Health Premiums To Outpace Raises Again
Large employers expect health costs to continue rising by about 6 percent in 2017, a moderate increase compared with historical trends that nevertheless far outpaces growth in the economy, two new surveys show. Read more.
Aetna Gets December Trial Date to Make Case for Humana Deal
Health insurers Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc. will go to trial against the U.S. on Dec. 5 in defense of their planned $37 billion merger, pushing a judge’s decision on the tie-up beyond their deadline for completing the deal by year-end. Read more.
Should Big Insurance Become Like Walmart To Lower Health Costs?
Retail titan Walmart uses its market dominance to inflict “ruthless,” “brutal” and “relentless” pressure on prices charged by suppliers, business writers frequently report. Read more.
Administration Paints Rosy Future For Obamacare Marketplaces
Despite dire warnings from Republicans and some large insurers about the stability of the Affordable Care Act exchanges, an Obama administration report released Thursday indicated the individual health insurance market has steadily added healthier and lower-risk consumers. Read more.
Next president faces possible ObamaCare meltdown
The next president could be dealing with an ObamaCare insurer meltdown in his or her very first month. Read more.
Expect your health insurance costs to rise in 2017
You'll pay a little more for your workplace health insurance plan next year. Read more.
Will Your Prescription Meds Be Covered Next Year? Better Check!
The battle continues to rage between drug companies that are trying to make as much money as possible and insurers trying to drive down drug prices. Read more.
New Agent/Broker Resources From CCIIO
Earlier this week, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight released new resources for agents and brokers to use for the upcoming exchange open enrollment period. Read more.
It’s easy to reset your forgotten CMS Enterprise Portal password to access your account and start plan year 2017 registration
If you have an existing CMS Enterprise Portal, but cannot remember your password, you can reset it yourself in three simple steps and get started with plan year 2017 registration right away. Read more.
September 1st - Free Conference for Medicare Producers
There's only a few seats left for our Medicare Connections Connectionson September 1st. Join us in Hershey to get the first look at 2017 Medicare Advantage plans, network with other successful agents, and insurance carriers. Read more.
Avoid frustration in accessing the MLMS by turning off pop-up blockers
As noted in Tip 3 of the Plan Year 2017 Computer Configuration Requirements Quick Reference Guide, if you are having difficulty accessing the plan year 2017 registration training modules on the Marketplace Learning Management System (MLMS), you may be able to resolve the issue by enabling pop-up windows. Read more.
New Information Available on REGTAP
View library updates on REGTAP. Read more.
Don’t forget to complete plan year 2017 FFM registration and training
Plan year 2017 Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM) agent and broker registration and training is now available on the CMS Enterprise Portal. Read more.
Summary of CMS emails for week of July 18
This weekly email summarizes the content of emails distributed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to agents and brokers during the preceding week to keep you up-to-date on the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces (FFMs). 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. Register once and you'll be signed up for all of the 2016 Weekly PPACA Conference Calls. Register now.
Weekly PPACA Conference Call Archives
Click here to view the archived recordings of the PPACA Conference Calls.
