09/21/2018
Featured
09/21/2018
LISI Partners with Western Health Advantage
LISI has added Western Health Advantage (WHA) to their portfolio. WHA is a highly regarded community-based HMO with a focus on market-leading affordability. Plans are available with effective dates st...
09/18/2018
UnitedHealthcare Offers Small Group Sales Bonus
UnitedHealthcare is offering a bonus to California agents who sell new fully insured small group medical plans. Eligible new cases are fully insured medical groups with up to 100 eligible employees in...
09/17/2018
Is Cost Sharing Reaching its Limit for California Employers?
Health care costs continue to rise in California with the average health plan now topping $19,200 a year for a family. But employers and workers seem to be reaching their limit when it comes to increa...
09/17/2018
California Legislative Update
Below are bills that have passed the California Legislature. As of this date, Governor Jerry Brown has signed several into law. UNIVERSAL COVERAGE Signed into law: AB 2472 (Wood D): The bill req...
09/13/2018
Blue Shield of California Eases Small Group Participation Requirements
To help make new sales submissions easier, Blue Shield of California will count a refusal of coverage due to individual coverage as a valid waiver beginning with October 1, 2018 effective dates. Emplo...
09/11/2018
MediExcel Launches Vision Plan
MediExcel has introduced Vision Plan V100, focusing on quality coverage at affordable premiums. The plan is available as an employer-paid or voluntary benefit. Coverage is available to members who are...
09/11/2018
What You Need to Know About Employer Reporting – IRS Letter 5699
Most of us are well aware that the IRS is actively collecting employer shared responsibility payments from applicable large employers (ALE) who failed to comply with the Section 4980H offer of coverag...
09/10/2018
Webinar: Today's Biggest Employee Benefit Trends
MetLife is hosting a webinar featuring critical insights from their latest U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study. You will learn The 2018 research is out and it’s clear. More than any other time th...
09/07/2018
Anthem Blue Cross Issues MLR Rebates
Anthem Blue Cross is issuing rebate checks to certain employers in accordance with medical loss ratio (MLR) provisions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Small group medical carriers are required to...
09/07/2018
A Look at Out-of-Network Billing
In more than 15% of inpatient admissions, a patient gets a bill from an out-of-network provider even though they used an in-network facility, according to a national study of large employer plans by t...
09/07/2018
Many Employers Are Not Ready for Open Enrollment
A significant number of employers are not on the right pace to gear up for open enrollment. As of July, many had not yet planned or designed employee communications, reviewed compliance and eligibilit...
09/06/2018
Premier Physician Network Satellite Sites to Close
Anthem Blue Cross was recently informed that the Premier Physician Network satellite sites listed below will close and discontinue services effective December 1, 2018: PPN United Care Medical Gr...
08/31/2018
Dignity Health Medical Network-Sequoia to Discontinue Services
Anthem Blue Cross, along with other major carriers, was recently informed that Dignity Health Medical Network-Sequoia in San Mateo County will discontinue all services on November 1, 2018. Members en...
08/28/2018
Kaiser Permanente® Announces 50% Participation Promo
Kaiser Permanente® has lowered their participation requirement to 50% for all new small groups with effective dates September 2018 through January 2019. Also, Kaiser Permanente® will continue to write...
08/24/2018
Will Raising HSA Limits Prompt Higher Contributions?
The House of Representatives passed a bill that would raise the annual limit on HSA contributions to match out-of-pocket deductibles for HDHPs. HR 6311 would nearly double annual contribution limits f...
08/23/2018
LISI Partners with BenRevo to Streamline Large Group Quoting
LISI has an exclusive partnership with BenRevo, Inc. to offer a revolutionary large group insurance quoting process. BenRevo connects carriers, brokers, and customers on a common platform, slashing th...
08/23/2018
California Legislature Bans Short-Term Health Plans
The California legislature passed a bill that would prohibit the sale of short-term health plans. Authored by state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa), SB 910 awaits action by Governor Brown. If the bill bec...
08/23/2018
Commissioner Jones urges DOJ to block CVS/Aetna Merger
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue to block the proposed merger of CVS and Aetna. Jones said it would have significant anti-competitive effec...
08/22/2018
Delta Dental Small Business Update
Delta Dental announced the following updates for their 2019 Small Business Program renewal for California: Rate pass for 2019 – There is no increase in rates for all Delta Dental PPOTM and DeltaCar...
08/22/2018
