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Cadillac Tax Delayed Until 2022 and HIT Suspended for 2019

Issue Date: January 2018 The short-term funding bill passed by Congress to re-open the government contains two employee benefits–related provisions that are of interest to employers. The bill delays t...

UnitedHealthcare Owner Only Guideline Change 2/1/18

A change has been made to the Owner Only Guidelines effective February 1, 2018. UnitedHealthcare will no longer write a group that is owner only, where the common-law employee is waiving coverage. The...

ONE up the Marketplace

What do 3 plans, 1 application and 1 bundle rate add up to? A huge win. With CoPower ONE,™ groups of 2-99 can pick from 10 curated packages for comprehensive coverage at affordable prices with a fixed...

Q2 2018 Updates from Aetna

Aetna has released new rates for effective dates April to June 2018. PPO plans have received a rate pass, while HMO plans will increase 5.9% (statewide average). Quoting is now available in HealthConn...

Congress Delays Cadillac Tax and Health Insurance Tax

Earlier this week, Congress voted to pass a bill that would continue to fund the government through February 8, 2018 — H.R. 195. It includes delaying the Cadillac/Excise Tax until 2022 and implementin...

Second-quarter 2018 Rate Adjustments from Blue Shield of California

There will be a second-quarter rate action of 1.9% for all PPO medical plans and 1.0% for all HMO medical plans. All portfolio dental, vision and life insurance plan rates will remain unchanged. Gr...

Kaiser Permanente® Promotions Extended Through February 2018

Great news from Kaiser Permanente®! The following underwriting promotions from Q4 2017 have been extended to December 1, 2018 effective dates: A DE 9C is not required for new groups with 6 or mo...

§4980H Offer Requirements and Associated Penalties

Issue Date: December 2017 We are entering another season of employer reporting deadlines, and the first round of letters from the IRS proposing employer shared responsibility payments under §4980H has...

Heat up the Competition with CoPower

The technology boom brought with it fierce competition to attract and retain top talent. Forward-thinking companies are reimagining the compensation package by offering perks like a paid year of paren...

Q2 2018 Updates from Sharp Health Plan

Sharp Health Plan has released new HMO rates for effective dates April–June 2018. HMO plans will increase 0.6%. If you are looking at PPO options with Sharp, keep in mind that the rates released Janua...

Q2 2018 Updates from UnitedHealthcare

UnitedHealthcare has released new rates for effective dates April–June 2018. HMO plans have received a rate pass, while PPO plans will increase 5% (statewide average). Be sure to talk to your LISI Reg...

Q2 2018 Updates from Health Net

There are no plan benefit changes, and PPOs receive a rate pass. For HMO/HSP plans, Health Net reports an annual renewal change of -2.2%. However, we report a statewide average increase of 0.9% for Fu...

DOL Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Expanding Association Health Plans

The Department of Labor (DOL) has released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would allow for the expansion of Association Health Plans (AHPs). The proposed rules are in response to an execut...

Q2 2018 Updates from Anthem Blue Cross

Anthem Blue Cross reports no rate or benefit changes for Q2 2018. With a rate pass and underwriting promotions extended through June 15, 2018, Anthem is a good carrier to consider including in your qu...

Getting Glasses Has Never Been Easier

If you wear glasses, you know what a time-consuming process it can be. Make an appointment. Hope you find a pair that suits you. Second-guess the style. The list goes on! CoPower is here to make the e...

VSP Fire Assistance in California

VSP® Vision Care wants to help those affected by fires and is working directly with VSP network doctors, business partners, and relief agencies, including the American Red Cross, to assess the situati...

PrimePay Promotions through January 31

PrimePay is rolling out year-end promotional pricing for some of their core solutions. The promotion runs for new business submitted for November 1, 2017 through January 31, 2018 and is as follows: ...

UnitedHealthcare Q1 2018 Portfolio and Rate Updates

UnitedHealthcare has released their January 1, 2018 rate and portfolio updates. Quoting is now available in HealthConnect. These changes are valid from January through March 2018. Rate Updates S...

Anthem Blue Cross Q1 2018 Updates

Anthem Blue Cross released Q1 2018 rates. Statewide average quarterly rates report a decrease of 0.4% for PPO plans and an increase of 2.4% for HMO plans. Dental and vision plans report no increase. ...

Blue Shield of California Q1 2018 Updates

Give your small group clients more product and network choices with new tools for brokers designed for faster service. Growing networks for more choice Blue Shield of California's Trio ACO HMO N...

Blue Shield of California Corrected Age Attainment Calculation for New and Existing Groups

Blue Shield of California implemented a correction for the age calculation of new employees. Last year, they discovered that they had not rated Small Business new hire subscribers correctly because of...