If you are turning 65 and have Obamacare health insurance, BE SURE TO CANCEL YOUR OBAMACARE PLAN! I was talking to a woman today who turned 65 in May. She was already collecting Social Security so she was automatically enrolled…
Category: Obamacare
obamacare news
How much a knee replacement costs
Do you know how much a knee replacement costs? I received this infographic from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. It looks like Blue Cross Blue Shield negotiates different prices with different providers – and negotiated prices can be a lot…
BCBSAZ will drop Plans
BCBSAZ will drop plans in Maricopa and Pinal County that are offered through the Marketplace in 2017. These are individual health insurance plans for people under 65. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona has decided to offer individual and family…
Big Losses for BCBS Arizona
Obamacare plans have meant big losses for BCBS Arizona. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona has always been a big player in the individual health insurance market and they probably turned a profit in the past. But new, sicker customers have…
Risk Corridor and Obamacare
Risk Corridor and Obamacare. What does this mean? According to a review of medical claims from the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, new health insurance customers (starting in 2014) had higher rates of diabetes, depression and high blood pressure than…
The End of Health Insurance in Arizona.
Individual health insurance in Arizona may not be available in 2017 – for people who live outside Maricopa or Pima counties. The Arizona Republic reports that only Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBS) has filed paperwork to sell individual…
UnitedHealthcare Compass Network is Lousy.
The UnitedHealthcare Compass network is lousy in Tucson, AZ but this is not a big news story. The big story in the news this week is that UnitedHealthcare is dropping out of the under-65 health insurance market in many states. I…
Obamacare Tax Questions
I don’t recall hearing so much last year about Obamacare tax questions. But this year I’m seeing all kinds of emails about new paperwork requirements for tax forms and how insurance agents can help their clients. It is time for…
Enrollment Deadline Extended to Dec. 17
The deadline for getting health insurance that would begin on January 1 is being extended to Thursday, December 17th. The original deadline was last night at midnight, December 15th. The health insurance Open Enrollment Period runs through January 31, 2016…
Meritus Shut Down by AZ DOI
The Arizona Department of Insurance has deemed the Meritus health insurance cooperative to be insolvent and has ordered them to stop doing business as of January 1, 2016. Meritus will continue to cover the 59,000 Arizonans enrolled in its health…
Silver Plans Offer Extra Help
I just read that two million people who get help with their health insurance premiums are missing out on extra help with their deductible, co-pays, and MOOP (max out-of-pocket). They missed out because they did not sign up for a…
Health Insurance Puzzle
Helping people enroll in a health insurance plan is like solving a puzzle – a health insurance puzzle.
Understanding Health Insurance
Millions of people now have health insurance because of Obamacare. But do they understand how to use it? For many people, even those with a college education, the answer is “no”. I recently got a call from a client who…
Obamacare Saves Lives
I was at my doctor’s office recently and, as usual, I got into a discussion about insurance with my Nurse Practitioner. Connie told me she has many new patients because of Obamacare and most of them had not had health…
Good News Obamacare Story
I received an email from a client who got covered as of January 1, 2015. Donna has been self-employed for many years and didn’t think she could afford health insurance. Because of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), Donna got coverage…
Health Insurance Sign-up Extension
Don’t have health insurance? Will you pay a penalty when you do your taxes? For those who were unaware or did not understand the implications of the fee for not enrolling in coverage, CMS will provide consumers with an opportunity…
Health Insurance Deadline Extension?
Health Insurance deadline extension has been proposed – and it should not be for everybody.
Small Businesses and Obamacare
NPR has an interesting story about small businesses and Obamacare in Kentucky where employers and employees ended up with better, lower-cost health insurance. Health insurance policies offered by small businesses to their employees have been notoriously bad in the past. …
Obamacare: Drug coverage issues
I was just exchanging emails with a contact at CMS (Center for Medicare And Medicaid Services) which is the department responsible for overseeing the Affordable Care Act implementation. Here is what I wrote him: I thought you might be interested…
Obamacare: Tucson among the lowest-cost health insurance markets
Tucson is among the lowest-cost health insurance markets in the country. Health insurance is affordable in Tucson even without a subsidy. Tucson has seven companies offering over 100 different plans.
Obamacare: Hardship Exemption for Health Insurance Mandate
Some people will not face a penalty if they don’t get some type of health insurance in 2014. From healthcare.gov Exemptions from the payment Under certain circumstances, you won’t have to make the individual responsibility payment. This is called an…
Obamacare: The Importance of Silver Plans
If a person’s income is less than 200% of the federal poverty level, she gets help with her co-pays, deductible, and maximum out-of-pocket – in addition to her premium subsidy.
Good News Bad News
There sure are highs and lows when it comes to Obamacare news. GOOD NEWS I heard from a self-employed person in Benson that he got signed up through healthcare.gov for a Health Net Silver plan for $61 per month (after…
Obamacare: Who qualifies for AHCCCS/Medicaid?
Medicaid in Arizona is knows as AHCCCS (pronounced “access”). That stands for the “Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System”. Arizona is expanding AHCCCS enrollments under Obamacare by raising income limits to 133% of the federal poverty level. That’s $15,282 per…
Ted Cruz and Obamacare
I must give Republicans credit for the consistency of their anti-Obamacare messaging. One after another, Republicans say the same lines over and over, and so-called “journalists” never challenge the validity of their statements. Ted Cruz was on “Meet the Press”…
People writing about health insurance who don’t understand it
The problem with journalists writing about health insurance is that they don’t really know much about the topic. So here is my response, as an insurance broker, to the statement above.