Browsing: Blog

Blog 0

Consumer tools are a lot like the vegetables that kids may not want but most definitely need. Nobody really wants a consumer-directed health plan. Prior to the deductible, people have to pay the contracted price for healthcare services and are asked to “shop around” and make better decisions, but right now there’s no good way to compare those options. To make today’s plan designs a little more palatable to employees and to make sure they don’t go without needed care, we have to provide them and their family members with some tools and some alternatives.

Blog 0

It was about as close as you can get to a sure thing in politics. But on March 24, after 18 days of in-fighting among House GOP members, President Trump and Speaker Ryan made the decision to pull the American Health Care Act, the reconciliation bill that would have done away with the individual and employer mandates, the individual and small group tax credits, expanded Medicaid, and billions of dollars’ worth of taxes. So what in the world happened? And what can we expect to happen next?

Blog 0

Health Savings Accounts have been around since 2004 and, aside from a few tweaks along the way and an annual adjustment for inflation, are pretty much the same as they were when they were first introduced. That could soon be changing, though. Nearly every major proposal to repeal and replace the ACA—as well as several recently filed bills—include multiple suggestions to improve and expand HSAs.

Blog 0

Shortly after being sworn in as the nation’s 45th president, Donald Trump swung by his new office at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. to hang the drapes and sign a few executive orders. Among them was one instructing federal regulators to take steps to ease the burdens of Obamacare.

Blog 0

In a recent post about the ongoing EpiPen pricing saga, I suggested that a case study might be unfolding before our eyes: for the first time I can remember, “consumerism” actually seems to be influencing health care prices. This is part two of that story.

Blog 0

Today, President Obama signs the 21st Century Cures Act into law and in doing so legalizes “qualified small employer HRAs.” This is a battle we’ve been fighting in the insurance industry for at least the last decade, and as of today, Dec. 13, 2016, defined contribution for individual plans is finally legal.

Blog 0

With the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act small employers will be able to establish Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) to provide Premium Reimbursements for their employees’ Individual Health Insurance Plans beginning January 1, 2017. President Obama is ending his service with a grand finale.

Blog 0

I was confident that, one month before Election Day, we’d have a pretty good idea who our next president will be and how his or her proposals will affect the health insurance industry. Boy was I wrong.

Blog 0

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times: “This is a great product. If any of my clients ask about it, I’ll be sure to recommend you.” For many brokers, this is a standard response when they learn about a new solution or a new strategy. Unfortunately, most people don’t understand insurance, so they’re probably not going to ask about a solution they don’t even know exists.

Blog 0

Everybody loves a hero—a person who does something remarkable and completely unselfish and then afterwards, when applauded for his or her efforts, humbly says, “I just did what anyone would do.” The truth is, not everyone acts heroically, even when it costs nothing and there’s no risk in doing so. Hopefully that will change after you read this article.

Blog 0

As we near the end of the open enrollment season and begin another calendar year, it is important to look ahead and try to predict what will happen. It’s the only way we can properly advise our clients and it’s also the best way to grow our business. So I thought I’d peer into my crystal ball and tell you what I see.

Blog 0

We all learned about the 3 Rs in grade school. And those of us who took business classes in college learned about the 4 Ps of marketing. In this article, I’ll introduce a new success strategy for agents and brokers: the 5 Cs of insurance sales.

Blog 0

For years, insurance agents have debated whether employers could legally reimburse employees on a pre-tax basis for health insurance purchased in the individual market. A new bill would give this strategy the green light.

Blog 0

For anyone who’d like a quick tutorial of the King v. Burwell Supreme Court case (or who needs to explain it to their clients), here it is in layman’s terms…

Blog 0

Have you ever had a really great idea only to Google it and find out you weren’t the first to think of it? Most of us have, and it’s really disappointing. There is some good news, though.

Blog 0

As agents, our job is to make sure our clients are actually getting something for all the money they’re spending. Here are a few tips.

Blog 0

The Affordable Care Act turns five years old today. On such a momentous occasion, it only seems appropriate to take a look back – and a look forward. The truth is that we’ve come a very long way in the past five years, but we still don’t have all the bugs worked out, and many believe we never will. Nonetheless, our clients need help, so we must continue to search for both short-term fixes and longer-term solutions.