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In a few weeks, a second season of shared responsibility reporting will begin. For some of you, last year’s inaugural year of reporting may have felt eerily similar to Lewis Carroll’s famous book. You know the one. It included a little girl falling down a dark hole, a rabbit frantically checking his watch and a […]
Archive for the ‘Health Insurance Hot Topics’ Category
Regulations Regarding Short-Term Limited-Duration Insurance, Excepted Benefits, and Lifetime/Annual Limits | CA Benefit Advisors
Recently, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (collectively the Departments) issued final regulations regarding the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance, standards for travel insurance and supplemental health insurance coverage to be considered excepted benefits, and an amendment relating to the prohibition on lifetime […]
FAQs on Tobacco Cessation Coverage and Mental Health / Substance Use Disorder Parity | California Benefit Advisors
Recently, the Department of the Treasury, Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (collectively, the Departments) issued FAQs About Affordable Care Act Implementation Part 34 and Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Implementation. The Departments’ FAQs cover two primary topics: tobacco cessation coverage and mental health / substance use […]
Long-Term Care Insurance: Employee Education Makes the Difference | California Employee Benefits
By Megan Ellis, Vice President of Sales, LTC Solutions, Inc., a UBA Certified Solution Most Partners of United Benefit Advisors (UBA) and their clients have benefits enrollment down pat. They know what to communicate to employees, and when. Employees, too, are usually familiar with the process. For example, they know what to expect when they […]
State Guide to COBRA Supplemental Requirements | California Employee Benefits
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is a federal requirement of group health plans to provide COBRA continuation coverage to participants who lose coverage due to a qualifying event, when the employer had 20 or more full time employees. Over the years, many states enacted additional requirements similar to COBRA, either for small employers, or […]
Employer FYI: Individual Mandate Requirements and Proposed Regulations | California Employee Benefits
Though employers are not required to educate employees about their individual responsibilities under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), it is helpful to know about the individual mandate. The individual responsibility requirement (also known as the individual mandate) became effective for most people as of January 1, 2014. Under the individual mandate, most […]
2016 Health Plan Survey: Topline Trends at a Glance | California Employee Benefits
The 2016 UBA Health Plan Survey contains the validated responses of 19,557 health plans and 11,524 employers, who cumulatively employ over two and a half million employees and insure more than five million total lives. Our data reflects the experiences of 99% of U.S. businesses in rough proportion to their actual prevalence, not just the […]
Prescription Drug Copay Trends | California Employee Benefits
UBA’s Special Report – Trends in Prescription Drug Benefits explores our Health Plan Survey findings in more detail, particularly examining what’s happening with prescription drug plan design among different group sizes, regions and industries. When it comes to copay amounts, median retail prescription drug copays are $10/$30 for two-tier plans, $10/$35/$55 for three-tier plans, and […]
Mail Order or Not? | Daly City Benefits Broker
By Mary Delaney, MSPT, CWP Managing Director for Vital Incite, A UBA Partner-Provided Solution In 1990, Health Affairs* reported “The escalating costs of prescription drugs and competition among pharmaceutical firms for customers are drawing the attention of policymakers, pharmacies, and individual and institutional purchasers. Mail-order pharmacies recently have grown in prominence as a competitive alternative […]
Shining a Light on HIPAA Compliance for Health and Welfare Plans | California Benefits Broker Services
By Elizabeth Kay, Compliance & Retention Analyst AEIS Advisors A UBA Partner Firm With the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the federal government became much more involved in what had always been a heavily regulated, but predominately private industry. What many people have forgotten is that the ACA was not the first legislation […]
