Despite the fact that the American population is aging rapidly, only about 1 in 30 Americans and about 7% of adults over the age of 50 are carrying Long-Term Care insurance. Studies show that someone turning 65 today has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care service. Women need care longer (3.7 years) than men (2.2 years). Currently, five states are actively considering legislation to address the high cost of long-term care potentially through a long-term care state payroll tax, with two of the most populous states, California and New York, among them. Many older Amer ..read more

States are preparing to remove millions of people from Medicaid as protection coverage enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic will expire. In California, the state welfare program is called Medi-Cal and not Medicaid, as it is called in the other states. The upheaval, which will begin this April, will put millions of low-income Americans at risk of losing health coverage, threatening their access to care and potentially exposing them to huge medical bills. Not only that, it will put pressure on the finances of hospitals, doctors, and others relying on payments from Medicaid, the state-welfare pro ..read more

Life insurance for Women We just passed International Women’s Day on March 8th. Did you know that 70 % of US households rely on women’s salaries for financial stability? More than 40 % of women are the sole and primary breadwinners in the family. However, often protecting women with life insurance is often set aside. Life insurance does not have to be expensive and does not have to be complicated. There are plenty of options out there from term life to whole life to universal life, each with its own unique pros and cons. As an example, a healthy 30-year-old female can get a $1 million, 30-year ..read more

Starting February 1, 2023, the Annual Open Enrollment Period ends and the Special Enrollment Period begins. During the Special Enrollment Period from February 1st to November 1st, 2023, anyone seeking to enroll in or change their existing health insurance must have had a so-called “qualifying life event” within the last 60 days. Below are some of the most common qualifying life events that must occur before you are eligible to apply for new health insurance. Most common qualifying life events (QLE): Recently moved Lost employer-sponsored coverage Released from Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid ..read more

By now, you should have received your new health insurance subscriber ID card for 2023. Be sure you register your insurance card online, which allows you to easily find doctors who are in your health plan’s network, review your benefits, view your claim history, and make your monthly payments. If you have an HMO, it is critical that you select your preferred primary care physician. If you want, you can also change your primary doctor each month if you do not like your selection. Make sure to discard any old subscriber ID cards from your wallet to avoid any confusion with your healthcare provid ..read more

The Irs Form 1095-A is an important federal tax document that serves as proof of Minimum Essential Coverage for health care and lists the amount which was paid to Covered California Qualified Health Plan carriers to help with a consumer’s health insurance coverage. Covered California will begin to send out the 1095-A tax form in the last week of January to consumers who indicated in their application to receive correspondence via mail. If Covered California consumers elected their preferred way of communication to email, they will receive an email from Covered California with the instructions ..read more

Each renewal season the ACA and Covered Covered adjust their benefit structure slightly. Whereas we saw in 2022 benefits improvements while lowering the medical and pharmacy deductible for the upcoming renewal season in 2023 we see major benefit reductions on the Silver 70 and Silver 73 benefits plans. The Silver plans are the most popular plan selection of the 4 metal tier options (Bronze, Silver, Gold & Platinum). On the Silver 70 and 73, the medical deductible is rising over $ 1050 from $3,700 in 2022 to $ 4750 for an individual in 2023. Double this amount for a family of $ 9500. I ..read more

One of the key provisions of the Inflation Rescue Act which was implemented last month will help Medicare policyholders to lower drug costs. Medicare will have the right to negotiate prices for prescription drugs for the first time since Congress enacted a prescription drug benefit for seniors in 2003. However the price negotiations will start only in 2026, and Medicare will be allowed to negotiate prices for the 10 highest-cost drugs. In 2027 the numbers increase to 15 part D drugs, in 2028 15 drugs in Part D and Part B, and then in 2029 20 of the highest drugs in Part D and Part B. Neverthe ..read more

The Inflation Reduction Act was Signed into Law! Recently, President Biden marked the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into regulation. The IRA is noteworthy health care, tax, and climate change policy provision that incorporates arrangements to broaden the expanded and extended monetary assistance at first included in the American Rescue Plan (ARP). This is very welcome news that the American Rescue Plan subsidies, which were set to terminate toward the end of 2022, will currently be accessible through the end of 2025. A few vital features of this new regulation that proceeds wit ..read more

Although this is higher than last year’s 1.8% increase, it is lower than the national average rate increase of 10% (based on 13 states that have so far filed their rates). There is some good news such as the entrance of Aetna into El Dorado, Fresno, Kings, Madera, Placer, Sacramento & Yolo counties as well as the return of Anthem into San Diego county next year. LA Care is seeing the smallest rate increase of only 2% while Oscar, again, is seeing the highest average increase of 13.2%. Blue Shiel expects a rate increase of 9.2% while Anthem is seeing a more reasonable 5.8% increase. Kaiser ..read more