News and Announcements
Please join us on Thursday, June 17th at the Sheraton Resort and Spa in Carlsbad.
Topics include
- What do you have to do now?
- How do you prepare?
- Grandfathered Health Plans
- How do you stay compliant?
- Overview of Law
- Dependent coverage
- Lifetime and annual limits
- Impact on HSAs and FSAs
- W-2 Reporting
- IRS small business tax credit
- Future Accessibility
- How Health Care will change
- Provider Prospective
To register, please click on the heading. Space is limited!
Within the first year:
· Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.
· Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
· Young adults will be able to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26. Many health plans currently drop dependents from coverage when they turn 19 or finish college.
· Uninsured adults with pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program that will expire once new insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.
· A temporary reinsurance program is created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64. This also expires in 2014.
· Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.
· A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.
· A 10 per cent tax on indoor tanning services that use ultraviolet lamps goes into effect on July 1.
In 2011:
· Medicare provides 10 per cent bonus payments to primary care physicians and general surgeons.
· Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get a free annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plan service. New health plans will be required to cover preventive services with little or no cost to patients.
· A new program under the Medicaid plan for the poor goes into effect in October that allows states to offer home and community based care for the disabled that might otherwise require institutional care.
· Payments to insurers offering Medicare Advantage services are frozen at 2010 levels. These payments are to be gradually reduced to bring them more in line with traditional Medicare.
· Employers are required to disclose the value of health benefits on employees' W-2 IRS forms.
· An annual fee is imposed on pharmaceutical companies based on market share. The fee does not apply to companies with sales of $5 million or less.
In 2012:
· Physician payment reforms are implemented in Medicare to enhance primary care services and encourage doctors to form "accountable care organizations" to improve quality and efficiency of care.
· An incentive program is established in Medicare for acute care hospitals to improve quality outcomes.
· The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the government programs, begin tracking hospital readmission rates and puts in place financial incentives to reduce preventable readmissions.
In 2013:
· A national pilot program is established for Medicare on payment bundling to encourage doctors, hospitals and other care providers to better coordinate patient care.
· The threshold for claiming medical expenses on itemized tax returns is raised to 10 per cent from 7.5 per cent of income. The threshold remains at 7.5 per cent for the elderly through 2016.
· The Medicare payroll tax is raised to 2.35 per cent from 1.45 per cent for individuals earning more than $200,000 and married couples with incomes over $250,000. The tax is imposed on some investment income at a rate of 3.8 per cent for that income group.
· A 2.9 per cent excise tax is imposed on the sale of medical devices. Anything generally purchased at the retail level by the public is excluded from the tax.
In 2014:
· State health insurance exchanges for small businesses and individuals open.
· Most people will be required to obtain health insurance coverage or pay a fine if they don't. Healthcare tax credits become available to help people with incomes up to 400 per cent of poverty purchase coverage on the exchange.
· Health plans no longer can exclude people from coverage due to
pre-existing conditions.
· Employers with 50 or more workers who do not offer coverage face a fine of $2,000 for each employee if any worker receives subsidized insurance on the exchange. The first 30 employees aren't counted for the fine.
· Health insurance companies begin paying a fee based on their market share.
In 2015:
· Medicare creates a physician payment program aimed at rewarding quality of care rather than volume of services.
In 2018:
· An excise tax on high cost employer-provided plans is imposed. The first $27,500 of a family plan and $10,200 for individual coverage is exempt from the tax. Higher levels are set for plans covering retirees and people in high risk professions.
Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company has agreed to a request by the California Department of Insurance to postpone our March 1, 2010 rates to May 1, 2010, pending an additional third-party review. The review will be conducted by Axene Health Partners, LLC, retained by the California Department of Insurance. While we have already conducted an independent third-party review, we welcome the additional scrutiny by the commissioner and are confident that our rates will continue to reflect anticipated medical costs and are established consistent with actuarial principles and state law. In order to avoid confusion, we are also delaying the implementation of the rate increases for individual medical plans offered by Anthem Blue Cross.| Anthem Letter
(HealthDay News) -- While half of Americans want some kind of health reform in the next two years, nearly 40 percent say it would be a good thing if the legislation proposed by the Democrats and President Barack Obama never materializes. And one-quarter aren't sure if health reform would be good or bad for the country, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll finds.
"Essentially what they're saying is we want reform but we don't trust or like what we're seeing now," said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll, a service of Harris Interactive.
While reforming health care is still important for many Americans, the most pressing issue is fixing the troubled economy, the poll found.
When asked to pick two top priorities for the President and Congress, about 8 out of 10 of respondents, regardless of their political persuasion, picked reducing unemployment and creating new jobs as a top priority over the next few months. Among Democrats, health reform came next (59 percent), while among Republicans preventing a terrorist attack in the United States (64 percent) took second place. |Business Week
President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect noninfected patients.
The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government's initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.
Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the strain of flu known as H1N1, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. So far only 11 million doses have gone out to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials. |Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Health care legislation taking shape in the House carries a price tag of at least $1 trillion over a decade, significantly higher than the target President Barack Obama has set, congressional officials said Friday as they struggled to finish work on the measure for a vote early next month.
Democrats have touted an unreleased Congressional Budget Office estimate of $871 billion in recent days, a total that numerous officials acknowledge understates the bill's true cost by $150 billion or more. That figure excludes several items designed to improve benefits for Medicare and Medicaid recipients and providers, as well as public health programs and more, they added.
The officials who disclosed the details did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss them publicly. |Associated Press
Confused by all the health care jargon? FOXNews.com breaks down the terminology in advance of President Obama's Wednesday night address on health care before a joint session of Congress. |Fox News
Health care reform cleared a momentous hurdle Tuesday, as the Senate Finance Committee voted to send its version of the legislation to the Senate floor after months of closely watched deliberations.
The committee voted 14-9 in favor of the package. One Republican, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe, broke with her party to support the bill. All 13 Democrats on the panel voted in favor of it, while the rest of the Republicans opposed it. |Fox News
Many people with chronic fatigue syndrome are infected with a little known virus that may cause or at least contribute to their illness, researchers are reporting. |New York Times
A Colorado insurance company is changing its attitude about fat babies. Rocky Mountain Health Plans said it will no longer consider obesity a "pre-existing condition" barring coverage for hefty infants. The change comes after the insurer turned down a Grand Junction 4-month-old who weighs about 17 pounds. The insurer deemed Alex Lange obese and said the infant didn't qualify for coverage. | Fox News
You might be getting a lot of mixed messages about exercise these days. Some studies say just 20 minutes a day of moderate exercise is fine, while others say people need an hour of vigorous exercise most days of the week.
What really is the best way to lose weight? | San Francisco Chronicle
Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue.| The Associated Press
Why do America's top health care officials find the White House's plan to govern health care a mistake?| Forbes.com
It's a central goal of the president's plan: Extending health care coverage to the millions of Americans who lack it. Question is, just how many million are uninsured? |Associated Press
As the House left for their recess, Obama and fellow party members pound the pavement to find support for health care reform amongst their constituents.|San Diego Union Tribune
President Obama and over 43 million other Americans find it incredibly hard to quit the habit of smoking. Why is it such a trying habit to quit...?|San Diego Union Tribune
Find out what voters are saying about the
divisive issue of overhauling health care. For more information read this article.|San Diego Union Tribune
Is your sunscreen causing Melanoma? Read this article to find out why doctors are questioning the safety of sunscreen.|From The New York Times
Irregular heartbeat. Prostate cancer. Back pain. Hearing loss. The government is about to spend millions to try to uncover the best treatments for scores of ailments -- and how to handle these four biggies leads a list of top 100 questions that doctors need answered.|From AHIP Hi-Wire
Many of us find it difficult to become motivated for our workouts being that the weather is so warm. Read more to find ways which will easily help you in staying active during the summer months. | From The San Diego Union Tribune
Most people training for a race or sport focus on adding more miles, workouts or weight training to improve their fitness. But new research suggests that simply getting more sleep can improve athletic performance. | From US News
Congress appears ready to confront one of the nation’s most contentious issues - health care reform - and arguments will fill the air in the coming months. | From The New York Times
In a trying economy it is sometimes difficult to come up with the extra money to spend on monthly gym fees. This article explains how for a $100 you can use items around your home to create a gym to meet your fitness needs. | From AHIP Hi-Wire
In a trying economy it is sometimes difficult to come up with the extra money to spend on monthly gym fees. This article explains how for a $100 you can use items around your home to create a gym to meet your fitness needs. | From US News
See what walking 20 minutes a day or maintaining a regular fitness schedule can do for your long term health. But keep in mind that your exercise regiment although improving your long term health it will not necessarily reduce your weight. Exercise is just one ingredient to a healthy lifestyle. Read this article to find what more you can do to make you as healthy as possible. | From The New York Times
Do musicians have better memory than those who are not musically inclined? Several tests were performed to test the memory of musicians and non-musicians. You might be shocked to read what the results found. | From ScienceBlogs.com
We tend to obsess on how we can fix our health once we are sick. What can we do prevent our health from deteriorating? Doctors at several prominent healthcare clinic have done some research as to how we can avoid some of the future ailments that might come our way. | From North County Times
Understand the importance of counting calories when trying to loose weight. (PDF)
Being that the summer months are now upon us it is important to know the signs, symptoms, and toll of what the sun is doing to our bodies. In this article you will learn how to prevent these common side effects. (PDF)
As the weather is getting nicer and the beach is calling your name, you need to remember why it is so important that you regularly apply sunscreen when out in the sun. Keep yourself informed as to what the possible signs of skin cancer are and how you can prevent yourself and loved ones of damaging their skin. (PDF)
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