This Week In Health Insurance Reform Easytoinsureme.com

January 27, 2010

This Week in Health Reform–Federal Legislative Overview

House and Senate
Republican Scott Brown’s victory over Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) in the January 19 special election to fill the seat of the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D) is proving to be a game-changer for the health care reform debate.  It is now unclear what Democrats can do to pass President Obama’s most important legislative agenda item.  Even though the Democrats held a majority in the House and Senate this year, they failed to coalesce around a strategy to pass this legislation.  Initially after Brown’s win, there were two options under discussion for moving forward on the current legislation.

Have the House take up the Senate-passed bill and use the “reconciliation” bill process to “fix” several of the provisions the House finds unacceptable (e.g., the “Cadillac” tax, etc.).  If the House passes the Senate bill, it will go directly to the President for his signature, with no further action needed in the Senate.  A “reconciliation” bill, which would need only 51 votes in the Senate, could be passed either in tandem with the Senate bill or follow soon after.
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Scale back the health care reform bill. A scaled-back bill could include health insurance reforms, exchanges, as well as several other provisions and possibly could attract bipartisan support.  While many Democrats are likely to view this approach as a major lost opportunity, leadership may determine this is the most viable approach.

However, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) publicly stated on January 21 that the House does not have the 218 votes needed to pass the Senate version of the health care reform bill, which takes option number one (above) off the table.

While numerous private discussions are reportedly being held on the matter, at the outset it seems that Democrats’ only option for keeping the current legislation alive is to reach across the aisle to their Republican counterparts, most notably, moderate Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME).  That would mean a more conservative bill, which could anger rank and file Democrats who are supportive of the legislation.

Although no plans have emerged for how to move forward, it now looks like Democrats will have to modify their plans.  On the night of Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) – one of the biggest proponents for a single-payer health care system – said: “The only way to go forward is to take a step back. If there isn’t any recognition that we got the message and we are trying to recalibrate and do things differently, we are not only going to risk looking ignorant but arrogant.  I don’t think it would be the worst thing to take a step back and say we are going to pivot to do a jobs thing,” and include elements of health care reform in it, he said.

Rep. David Camp (R-MI), Ranking Member on the House Ways and Means Committee, declared Democrats’ health care overhaul legislation “dead” and said that instead of full-scale change Congress should take a “first step toward comprehensive reform” of the nation’s health care system.

Issue Overview: Nebraska Medicaid Deal
While key elements of the health care reform legislation remain in flux, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its cost estimate of the expansion of the State of Nebraska’s Medicaid Deal, negotiated by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) who then voted for the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HR 3590.

The letter responds to a request from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)), Ranking Member, House Committee on the Budget, asking if the cost estimate of the Senate health reform bill would change if all states received the same level of federal assistance for Medicaid as Nebraska receives under the bill.

The CBO stated on January 21 that the net spending for the Senate legislation would increase by $35 billion over ten years if all states received the same level of assistance as Nebraska.

Under the Senate’s provisions, non-elderly individuals with incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty level would be eligible for Medicaid beginning in 2014.   The federal government would pay the cost of covering newly eligible enrollees through 2016; and federal spending would be about 90 percent by 2019.  The Senate legislation states that it would pay all Medicaid expansion costs to Nebraska beginning in 2014.

Health Care Reform Weekly Easytoinsureme Health Insurance Quotes

Week of January 25, 2010

The sudden halt to health care reform’s steady march forward came as a shock to many who saw an upset win by Republican Senator-elect Scott Brown in Massachusetts as all but impossible. But if many took delight in the election outcome’s impact on health reform legislation, Aetna Chairman Ronald A. Williams made it clear in a New York Times story last week that the country still needs meaningful health care reform – reform that addresses access as well as affordability. Everyone benefits by health reform that gets at the factors driving soaring health care costs and the loss of coverage for so many Americans. While Congress thinks carefully about its next steps, Aetna will continue to support meaningful health care reform and continue to offer responsible solutions to legislative leaders.

Federal

The election of Republican Scott Brown as the new senator from Massachusetts has derailed the Congressional health care reform train, less because Brown denies Democrats the 60th filibuster-proof vote, though that is certainly a major result, and more because it collapsed the Democratic political house of cards by highlighting the power of independent voters and the frustrated anti-incumbent mood of the electorate. Whether Democrats can regroup from this wake-up call will consume their leadership from now until the November off-year elections. How Democrats handle, and how Republicans respond to, health care reform in the short term and other key priorities – such as jobs, the economy, energy and security – over the rest of the session will underscore all Congressional decisions from now until the first Tuesday in November. In short, the 2010 elections started in earnest with Brown’s victory.

Once Democrats get past the shock of losing Kennedy’s seat, they will have to grapple with health care reform, one way or the other. The early favorites, including passing the Senate bill “as is” in the House, have been dropped for now as Democrats recognize the political cost of ramming through something unpopular propelled by political muscle only. Passing a smaller, less invasive and mostly Democratic bill has only a slightly better chance, as Republicans are not too likely to “crossover” quite yet. There is a growing interest in using reconciliation (the 51-vote tactic) down the road to pass a Democratic-only bill, once the House and Senate Democratic leadership can agree to a single bill. And, there is the outside chance that Democrats will see the Massachusetts election as an imperative to craft a bipartisan bill with Republicans that can secure 70-plus votes in the Senate. Wednesday’s State of the Union speech, followed by the party issues retreats later in the week, will go a long way toward determining which path will be pursued.

Find The Best Texas Health Insurance Quotes

One cannot deny the importance of having a health insurance in today’s times where incidences of illnesses and diseases are constantly on the rise. This is applicable for all regions around the world and Texas is no exception. This need to have a health insurance becomes even more essential if you are forced to visit any doctor for an illness of any magnitude or nature and are unable to pay the medical bill. Once you realize the importance of procuring cheap health insurance Texas for you and your family, you must do some research in terms of the best Texas health insurance quotes that are provided by insurance companies in this region.

It is true that every health insurance policy has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. It is quite difficult to find something that would be the ideal choice for you and your family. Yet it always better to make an informed decision rather than an ignorant one. If you are looking for the best Texas health insurance quotes in order to procure cheap health insurance Texas, you should first know that are two basic plans or policies for health care that you can consider opting for. These are broadly classified into the ‘Fee-for-Service’ plans and the ‘Managed Care Health’ plans.

The plans falling under the category of Managed care essentially function through a network of reputed doctors. This entails that you will receive medical coverage if you visit any hospital or doctor that is mentioned in the list of this plan’s network. On the other hand, the plans belonging to the category of fee-for-service or indemnity plans, give you the liberty to visit any hospital or doctor of your individual choice or preference. These plans are more expensive but provide greater flexibility to the patients. Thus, before obtaining Texas health insurance quotes in order to locate cheap health insurance Texas, you should select the type of insurance that will suit you best.

To obtain cheap health insurance Texas, you can also consider ordering Texas health insurance quotes online. If you do some research online, you will find countless websites that advertise prices and quotes of different heath plans that their company offers. You will not only find details about the various prices and plans, but also be provided with guidance in terms of the most feasible and suitable option for your individual requirements. You can consider ordering brochures of the best insurance companies and make a comparison between their co-payments, deductibles, coinsurance, premiums, preventive care, diseases they seek to cover and the coverage that they will provide in the case of prescription drugs.

Keeping Your Health Insurance Premiums Low

Health Savings Accounts offer tax deductions for medical expenses, and the opportunity to set up an additional retirement account. But regardless of any other positive benefit of HSAs, lower premiums are the primary reason that thousands of Americans have chosen Health Savings Accounts as the best way to protect their family’s health and assets. Here are some key suggestions on how to keep your health insurance premiums low.
1. Choose an HSA-qualified plan for lower rate increases.
Average group health insurance premiums rose by 9.6% last year and rose over 10% for each of the previous six years. Individual plans went up even more. Yet it is expected most HSA plans will experience much lower rate increases. A very large study was recently published showing that rate increases over the past year for consumer-driven plans such as HSA plans was only 3.4%. Blue Cross of Minnesota has reported that its HSA customers spent 8% less than their traditional insurance clients. Humana has reported claims’ costs of 4.9% for consumer-driven plans, versus a 19.2% increase in claims for other plans. In fact, average HSA premiums for individuals have actually dropped 19.5% over the last two years.

The reason these plans have lower rate increases is that people who have HSA-qualifying high-deductible health plans are likely to pay closer attention to costs, and take better care of their health. For instance, an HSA owner offered a statin drug to lower her cholesterol may be more likely to request a generic version, or ask her doctor if inexpensive nutritional supplements such as niacin or fish oil may be a solution. These actions save the insurance company money and should result in lower rate increases.
2. Raise your deductible as your HSA account grows.
When you fund your account you build up a financial “cushion” which allows you to raise your deductible as your account grows. Every time you raise your deductible, your premium should go down.
By the way, don’t forget that every time you fund your account you get an instant tax-deduction. When you offset the tax savings against your premiums, you’ll find your net cost for an HSA plan can be very low.
The maximum allowable contribution goes up every year with the rise of the Consumer Price Index. Currently, the individual contribution limit is $2,700, and the family limit is $5,450. So each year you can deposit greater amounts into your HSA and continue to raise your deductible, if you choose.

3. Stay healthy, so you can switch plans.
All health insurance plans have rate increases, and weve even seen premiums jump on some HSA plans. If a rate increase happens to you, you can switch to a different insurance company but only if you pass their underwriting requirements. If chronic disease develops, you may be stuck with your current plan, and its accompanying rate increases, for eternity. Or at least it may seem that long
If you pay attention to the pharmaceutical commercials, you learn lifestyle really has nothing to do with disease, and it is natural and healthy to be on many medications for the rest of your life, which will then solve your health problems.
If you pay attention to the science, you know the truth is quite different. It appears lifestyle is probably 95% of the picture, and we know the occurrence of degenerative disease can be dramatically reduced and even prevented.
Fortunately, most HSA owners are interested in health, wellness, and disease prevention. After all, theyre paying for their own doctor visits if they do get sick. HSA owners are also “forward thinking” people, and like to plan for their future both financial and physical. You can improve your odds of excellent health with just a few key habits:
Eat very high quantities of fresh vegetables and fruits. Shoot for 35% of your calories. This will lower your risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and much more.

Limit your intake of sugar and starchy carbohydrates like bread and pasta. The majority of health problems in the U.S. are related to metabolic diseases that involve insulin resistance.
Exercise and lift weights. Exercise guru Jack La Lanne turns 93 on September 26, and he says if you have muscles you never feel old.
4. Compare your plan to other available plans at least once a year, or whenever you get a rate increase.
Often-times people keep their plan much longer than they should, and end up paying too much. If your rates go up, you should compare a wide variety of plans to determine if you are in the right plan for your needs and budget.
By using these four strategies, the typical family can save thousands of dollars in health insurance premiums and still protect themselves against unexpected major medical expenses.

Health Care Bill Would Be Disaster For The Poor

Most Americans are aware that buried somewhere in the 2,000-page health care reform bill are provisions for cutting the already- strapped Medicare program by billions of dollars. Few are aware that the bill also cuts expenditures on county hospitals currently serving the poor.

In Chicago, for example, those without health insurance go to the county hospital where they are treated without regard to whether they have health insurance. If the bill is passed, however, many of these county hospitals will either have to close their doors or deny treatment to those without health insurance.

Although the bill passed by the Senate has been depicted as using coercive means to require those currently uninsured to buy insurance they cannot afford, or as imposing additional new taxes on the American working man and family, that bill is based on a fundamental lack of understanding of how the health care needs of the nation’s poor are currently served.

The desperately poor, many of them unemployed, are not equipped to deal with complicated insurance programs, deductibles, co-pays and all the other accoutrements of the typical health care policy. They are poor, they are unemployed, they are sick, they need a place to go to be treated without red tape and procedural obstacles.

County hospitals across the country that have provided that place are now threatened with a cut-off of funding and in many cases with extinction by the current health care reform bill passed by the Senate.

A number of proposals for making health care affordable for all Americans have been put forward by those who have sought to be heard during the legislative process. All these proposals have been rejected by a Congress determined to impose government control of health care.

Among these rejected proposals is to allow people to buy health insurance they can afford. Currently, government mandates require a single man to buy maternity coverage he will never use, or to pay inflated premiums to insure against going insane. It would be similar to a government mandate requiring every person to buy a Rolls Royce instead of a Ford. And then when people can’t afford to buy the Rolls Royce, they’re without any car at all.

Another rejected proposal is to allow health insurance companies to compete across state lines, thus increasing the competitive pressure to provide affordable insurance. Proposals for modest curbs on the multimillion-dollar malpractice suits that divert billions of dollars away from health care and into the pockets of high-rolling trial attorneys have also been rejected.

Even proposals for limited but cost-effective catastrophic government insurance have been rejected by those determined to have government take over health care across the board.

Health Insurance Reform Weekly Easy To Insure Me Health Insurance Quotes

February 17, 2010

The Week in Health Reform–Federal Legislative Overview

House and Senate
Things were quiet last week in Washington due to the 30 plus inches of snow the area received.  On Feb. 9 House leaders announced that due to the heavy snow in the area they would suspend votes in the House for the remainder of the week. Congress will not be in session this week due to the President’s Day recess and will reconvene the week of Feb. 22.

As a result of the congressional schedule, the timeframe for a floor vote on the McCarran-Ferguson antitrust legislation will be pushed back until the week of Feb. 22 at the earliest.  Reports have stated that the antitrust bill is part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) strategy of moving smaller pieces of health care legislation quickly to help build momentum for a comprehensive health care reform bill. The Speaker also continues to urge House Democrats to pass the Senate bill as long as it is accompanied by a separate “reconciliation” bill that would “fix” key provisions in the Senate bill (e.g., raising the threshold for the Cadillac tax and dropping the Nebraska Medicaid provisions) to satisfy some members of her caucus.

The Senate remained in session last week, despite the weather, although Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) stated that the Senate would not conduct any votes.  On Feb. 11, Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) released the highly anticipated “jobs bill” – The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act.

Senators Baucus and Grassley issued a joint statement, emphasizing that this bill was drafted with bipartisan input.  They further stated:  “We also agree that, once properly reviewed, the package should be considered in a deliberate, but expeditious manner.  Any efforts to needlessly delay Senate completion of consideration of this package through partisan means will undermine our goal of timely action in the current economic climate.  Action on the expired provisions is long overdue.  Timely action on incentives for economic activity and job creation also is needed.”
Hours after details of the “HIRE” legislation were released, Majority Leader Reid publicly stated that he was scrapping the bill.  Reid told reporters that when the Senate returns from its recess on Feb. 22, “we will move to a smaller package than has been talked about in the press.”  Reid went on to state that some of the tax provisions included in the legislation – key to garnering Republican support for the deal – “confuse” the bill.  Reid went on to say that, “we don’t have a jobs bill. We have a jobs agenda.”

The draft “HIRE” legislation addresses a number of key health care issues:

* The bill extends, by three months, the eligibility period for premium subsidies for state continuation coverage and COBRA continuation coverage to include persons who are unemployed on or before May 31, 2010.  The bill also clarifies that these subsidies are available to persons who are involuntarily terminated from their jobs after previously losing their employer-sponsored coverage due to a reduction in hours.  The premium subsidies originally were enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the “stimulus bill.”

* The bill provides for a seven-month Medicare physician payment fix (sometimes known as the “doc-fix”), maintaining physician payment rates at their current levels through Sept. 30, 2010.  Under current law, in the absence of congressional action, physicians are scheduled to face a steep rate reduction on March 1.

* The bill provides for a one-year extension of both Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans (section 626) and Medicare Cost Plans (section 627).

* The bill includes numerous provisions addressing Medicare fee-for-service reimbursement issues.
White House Health Care Reform Summit
In a pre-Super Bowl interview on CBS, President Obama said that he would like to host a televised health care summit with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on Feb. 25.  While specific details are not yet available, the summit represents the Obama Administration’s latest strategy to jumpstart the health care reform debate and seeks bipartisan cooperation following the loss of the Democrats’ supermajority in the Senate.  Republican leaders expressed interest in the summit, and House Republican Leader John Boehner (OH) issued a statement saying that, “The best way to start on real, bipartisan reform would be to scrap those bills and focus on the kind of step-by-step improvements that will lower health care costs and expand access.”  In response, White House officials insisted that the President is not interested in starting from scratch on health reform.

This week Democratic and Republican congressional leaders also met with President Obama at the White House to discuss the jobs bill, health reform, energy, trade and other legislative priorities.

Following the meeting, the President spoke with reporters and he made the following comments about health reform:  “I’m going to be starting from scratch in the sense that I will be open to any ideas that help promote these goals.  What I will not do, what I don’t think makes sense and I don’t think the American people want to see, would be another year of partisan wrangling around these issues; another six months or eight months or nine months worth of hearings in every single committee in the House and the Senate in which there’s a lot of posturing.  Let’s get the relevant parties together; let’s put the best ideas on the table.  My hope is that we can find enough overlap that we can say this is the right way to move forward, even if I don’t get every single thing that I want.

How Marabou Herbals Sexual Health Products Help In Overall Health?

Clearly, sexual health enhancement products are things that find favor with a lot of people only because of the fact that they help people look far better than what they are, and in fact, these sexual health products also take care of a lot of health disorders. It is almost like saying that you are killing two birds with a stone, but then you got to be careful.

There are plenty of sites promoting Sexual health products, but not many are genuine

The point is some of them may even waste your time. For example, a site may only sell sexual potency pills and may not look at offering a holistic sexual health management system. Most importantly though, some sites we have looked into have been selling fake products too.

We did a survey of 100 sites selling sexual health products and about 90 of them turned fake products. Of the remaining 10, 9 of them offered only one genuine product through their website.

But, with Marabou Herbals, we found a lot of things different

Here’s why Marabou Herbals is so different

It offers a whole list of products for people to buy (Later here, you would find the list of products offered by Marabou Herbals).
Excellent volume based discounts. Now, with Marabou Herbals, you could buy 12 boxes of Prosolution pills and save about $500 in shopping. It is true. When you buy 12 Prosolution boxes from Marabou Herbals, the eventual cost would be $369, as opposed to the original price of $850. How is that for a deal?
A complete sexual health products system is offered. With Marabou Herbals, you can shop for one of these – Virility, Sexual Potency, Sexual enhancement gel for women, pore relief gel and so on. You can either shop for one of these products, try out any combination or, buy the entire sexual health kit.

Here is a list of products offered by Marabou Herbals

Prosolution pills and Prosolution Gel
Proenhance and Volumepills gel
Provacyl
Proshape RX
Her Solution Pills and Her Solution gel
Gen FX
Clearpores.

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PPS – For all those of you who are still thinking, you can ask me your questions in the Comments section of this article and I will revert.

Health Bill Includes Taxpayer Funding Of Abortion

For almost 35 years, the law of the land has been an explicit prohibition against federal taxpayer dollars being used to pay for elective abortions, known as the Hyde amendment, after the late great Illinois congressman. This is a policy supported by the majority of the American people.

In fact, this hard-fought explicit ban was included in the health care bill that passed the House last year. Regrettably, the Senate did not follow suit and instead passed a bill that would allow hard-earned taxpayer dollars to pay for elective abortion. That is a simple fact. Unfortunately, in a mad rush to secure enough votes, leading House Democrats now intend to take up the Senate-passed bill, arguing that the Senate language prohibits federal funding of abortion. Besides that fact that this simply not true, it also demonstrates the lengths the president and his allies will take to pass this bill against the will of the American people.

Just this week, Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement saying, “Notwithstanding the denials and explanations of its supporters, and unlike the bill approved by the House of Representatives in November, the Senate bill deliberately excludes the language of the Hyde amendment. It expands federal funding and the role of the federal government in the provision of abortion procedures.”

First, the Senate bill allows elective abortions to be offered through the newly-created individual state health insurance exchanges and multi-state health plans administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and through federally-subsidized plans in already-existing community health centers.

Second, there is nothing in this legislation that requires any of these programs to live up to both the spirit and letter of the Hyde amendment that Congress has included each year in spending bills that fund the government. This not only prevents federal funding of elective abortions, but also erects an iron-clad firewall against any private money for abortion being mixed with any federal or state health program receiving federal dollars. This applies, for example, to Medicaid, a health program for the economically disadvantaged that is funded by both federal and state governments. If any resources are used for elective abortions that money must be kept completely separate from Medicaid. This is sound policy that must be maintained.

Regrettably, the Senate-passed bill doesn’t include this firewall. Anyone who doesn’t earn enough money would qualify for a federal subsidy to help pay for their health plan in the state exchanges, including plans offering elective abortion coverage. Some argue that under the Senate-passed bill, federal funding would be “segregated” so no federal money would pay for abortions. But this is a violation of the Hyde amendment, which also prevents the federal funding of insurance that covers elective abortion.

Furthermore, it is entirely possible that there would only be one health plan in any given state that does not include elective abortion. And even if you are opposed, you may well be railroaded into choosing a plan that covers it, because you might be looking for the best plan to treat a sick child or your own health condition.

What’s more, passing a new state law is the only way an individual state could truly ensure that elective abortions are not included in the plans offered through a state insurance exchange. That would be easier in some states than in others, but that’s unfair to those who are morally opposed to federal funding of abortion and happen to live in states where passing such a law would be extremely difficult.

Lastly, under this proposal, community health centers would receive a dedicated stream of money outside the annual congressional process to fund the government which is where the Hyde prohibition is maintained. So that means that for the first time federal money could be used to fund abortion at a community health center.

Those are the facts, and anyone who thinks the Senate abortion language is strong enough should think again. That is because, regardless of one’s position on this controversial issue, it is entirely reasonable to expect that a person who is fundamentally and morally opposed to abortion should not have to sanction its use with their hard-earned tax payer dollars.

Health Insurance Reform Schedule

This health insurance reform schedule is the official announced schedule from Easy To Insure ME to help citizens understand the future of health insurance in the United States.

Health Insurance Reform Schedule

2010
New programs:

*      Temporary retiree reinsurance program.
*      National risk pool, small business tax credit.
*      $250 rebate for Medicare members who reach the “doughnut hole”.

Health Insurance Reforms:

*      No lifetime benefit limits based on dollar amounts.
*      Allowed restricted yearly limits on the dollar value of certain benefits.
*      No coverage rescissions/cancellations (except for fraud or internal misrepresentation).
*      No cost-sharing obligations for preventive services.
*      Must have dependent coverage up to age 26.
*      New internal and external appeal process.
*      No pre-existing condition exclusions for dependent children (under 19 years of age).
*      New health plan disclosure and transparency requirements.

2011
Insurance Reforms:

*      New uniform coverage documents and standard definitions are developed.
*      Must have minimum medical loss ratios.

Medicare Reforms:

*      Start of Medicare Advantage cost-sharing limits.
*      Medicare beneficiaries who reach the doughnut hole to get a 50% discount on brand name drugs.
*      Primary care doctors and general surgeons practicing in underserved areas, such as inner city and rural communities to get a 10% bonus.
*      Medicare Advantage plans begin having payments frozen.

Other:

*      Yearly fee for brand-name drug manufacturers.
*      Start of voluntary long-term care insurance program giving a cash benefit to help those with disabilities stay in their homes or pay nursing home cost: benefit starts 5 years after paying coverage fee.
*      Increased funding for community health centers to provide care for many low-income and uninsured people.

2012

*      Hospitals, doctors and payers encouraged to join forces in “accountable care organizations”.
*      Hospitals with high rates of preventable readmissions facing reduced Medicare payments.

2013

*      Individuals making $200,000 a year or couples making $250,000 would have a higher Medicare payroll tax of 2.35% on earned income – up from the current 1.45%. A new 3.8% tax on unearned income, such as dividends and interest, also added.
*      Contributions to flexible spending accounts (FSAs) limited to $2,500 a year – indexed for inflation. And the threshold for deducting medical expenses on taxes goes from 7.5% to 10% income.
*      Medical device manufacturers have a 2.9% sales tax on medical devices; with exemptions for some, like eyeglasses, contact lens, and hearing aids.
*      No more deduction for expenses allocable to Medicare Part D subsidy for employers who maintain prescription drug plans for their Medicare Part D-eligible retirees.

2014
Coverage Mandates & Subsidies:

*      New Individual and employer coverage responsibilities.
*      New Individual affordability tax credit and expanded small business tax credits.

Health Insurance Quotes Exchange & Insurance Reforms:

*      State individual and small group health insurance exchanges operational.
*      Guaranteed issue, guaranteed renewability, modified community rating and minimum benefit standards (“essential benefits” plan) effective.
*      No more lifetime and yearly dollar limits for essential benefits.
*      New taxes on health insurers.

2018

*      New tax (“Cadillac tax”) on employer-sponsored health plans that offer policies with generous coverage levels.

2020

*      Doughnut hole coverage gap in Medicare prescription benefits is fully phased out. Seniors continue to pay the standard 25% of their drug costs until they reach the threshold for Medicare catastrophic coverage.

The mission of Easy To Insure ME is to help Americans find affordable health insurance in the easiest way possible. Licensed advisors do this by shopping all carriers available to the client and picking out four plans that will provide the best benefits at the lowest cost to the consumer. Then an easy to read side by side recommendation of these plans is sent through email to make the process as simplified as possible.

Easy To Insure ME is not a lead generation website. Real licensed professionals are here to help clients make knowledgeable and affordable individual health insurance decisions. An advisor can be reached at 866-492-3905. “Nobody does what we do for our clients.” http://www.easytoinsureme.com/

Paychecks to Shrink Because of Higher Health Premiums

Workers will pay more for their health care next year as U.S. companies prepare for provisions of the overhaul signed into law by President Barack Obama, according to a survey released today.

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About 63 percent of businesses plan to make employees pay a higher percentage of their premium costs in 2011, said the Washington-based National Business Group on Health, which surveyed 72 companies that employ more than 3.7 million people. The survey showed 46 percent plan to raise the maximum level of out-of-pocket costs that workers must bear.

The companies surveyed expect their costs of health-care benefits to rise an average of 8.9 percent next year. The legislation Obama signed in March will contribute an estimated 1 percentage point to the higher expense, Helen Darling, the business group’s president, said at a press conference in Washington today. Employee-paid portions may see small increases, she said.

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“They’re usually very small increments,” Darling said. “It could be as little as 1 percent.”

Employers may be using the health-care law as cover for changes they already planned to make to their benefits, said Igor Volsky, a health-care researcher at the Washington-based Center for American Progress, which supported the overhaul.

Giving Blame

“Costs are always increasing but they’re going to blame what they’re going to blame,” Volsky said yesterday before the survey’s results were released.

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The companies, each of which has at least 5,000 workers on its payroll, said they expected their health-benefit costs to rise 7 percent this year, half a percentage point higher than employers estimated in a separate survey released by the National Business Group on Health and the consulting firm Towers Watson & Co. in March.

The health-care overhaul was designed to help rein in rising costs while enabling employers to make adjustments to their benefits, said Jessica Santillo, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. “As was the case before the Affordable Care Act was enacted, employers have flexibility to make choices about how to design or revise their health care plans,” Santillo, who had not seen the survey, wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

Easy To Insure ME

About 57 percent of the employers in today’s study said their workers paid a higher portion of their premiums this year, and 36 percent of the companies increased the out-of-pocket maximums this year.

Companies said they plan to offer more so-called consumer- directed health benefits, such as insurance with high deductibles paired with tax-free health savings accounts. Twenty percent of companies will replace their current offerings with such plans in 2011, according to the survey, compared with 10 percent who did so this year. Wellness programs, including those that offer discounts for weight-loss, smoking-cessation and other lifestyle changes, are among the more-popular benefit changes planned for next year.

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