California’s Governor recently signed into law SB 770, which is a bill aimed at obtaining federal financing from Medicare and MediCal funds to be directed into a state-run single payer healthcare system in California. If a single payer system were to pass into law, we would have no more private health plans, no more Medicare, MediCal, or Covered California. Host Dorothy Cociu discusses SB 770 and Single Payer Healthcare, and what it could mean in California, with Faith Borges, Legislative Advocate for the California Agents & Health Insurance Professionals (CAHIP). Learn about what this wou ..read more

CAHIP Past President Dorothy Cociu interviews Faith Borges, Legislative Advocate, Dawn McFarlane, VP of Legislation and Sue Wakamoto-Lee, President, of the California Agents & Health Insurance Professionals (CAHIP), on the current legislative environment in Sacramento. We examine our state legislature, the November elections and political impact of them, state Leadership, and the main legislative issues related to health insurance and health care in California. Will Single Payer threats be back? Join us for this informative podcast! Show Notes https://advancedbenefitconsulting.com/wp-cont ..read more

In part two of this two-part series, CAHIP member Dorothy Cociu continues her interview with Marcy Buckner, Senior VP of Government Affairs of NABIP. We discuss the CMS Proposed 2024 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP), ACA Employer Reporting Deadline permanent extension, the Transparency in Coverage (TiC) Guidance that clarifies Public Disclosures, and the Good Faith Effort provisions for employer CAA Prescription Drug Reporting, which has been very difficult for employers, TPAs, PBMs and others. In addition, we discuss the top issues that NABIP has working on in Washington, inclu ..read more

In this episode, CAHIP Member Dorothy Cociu interviews Marcy Buckner, Senior VP of Government Affairs of NABIP. They discuss the current state of affairs in Congress after the November, 2022 elections, the end of the year Omnibus Package, the Inflation Reduction Act, the ACA Family Glitch resolution, Medicare Marketing Final Rule and Proposed Rule, and the proposed Notice of Benefit Payment Parameters. This is part 1 of a two-part series. Join us for this informative podcast ..read more

In this special podcast, Host Dorothy Cociu interviews Maggie Stedt and Rosamaria Murrajo from CAHIP’s Medicare Committee, on the Medicare updates needed for 2023 enrollments. We discuss the important things consumers need to know, the new rules that affect agents, and the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare provisions. In addition, we discuss what seniors themselves need to know, their most common questions, hints on how to enroll, as well as the differences in stand-alone prescription drug plans, Medicare supplement plans and more ..read more

CAHIP VP of Communications Dorothy Cociu interviews Faith Borges, Legislative Advocate for the California Agents and Health Insurance Professionals (CAHIP) and Dawn McFarland, VP of Legislation for CAHIP, on the latest and most serious threat to our current health care system in California, with the recent single payer healthcare bill, AB-1400, and the companion Assembly Constitutional Amendment, ACA 11. This was the second serious scare of single payer in 5 years for California, but this one was a double threat, as it included the funding source to pay for Single Payer in a constitutional ame ..read more

Host Dorothy Cociu, CAHU V.P. of Communications, interviews Maggie Stedt, CAHU Immediate Past President and Medicare Agent, and David Garcia, CAHU Medicare Chair and Medicare expert, on the important information that agents need to know during this Medicare Open Enrollment season. Bruce Benton, CAHU V.P. of Public Affairs, is also on hand. In this episode, we discuss what it’s like serving seniors, recommendations on how to respond to TV or radio ads that may be misleading, the differences between Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement coverage, Part B give-back, drug coverage updates, cov ..read more

In Part 1 of a 2-Part Podcast Series on Medicare Open Enrollment for 2021-2022, Dorothy Cociu, CAHU VP of Communications interviews Maggie Stedt, CAHU Immediate Past President and Medicare Expert, and David Garcia, CAHU Medicare Chair, about the current open enrollment period for Medicare for 2022 enrollment, and how it affects Medicare Enrollees, Consumers and Employers. We discuss the most important things to know for 2022, what seniors can do during open enrollment, the most common questions seniors have when signing up for Medicare, and needed information about prescription drug plans, Med ..read more

CAHU’s VP of Communications, Dorothy Cociu, VP of Public Affairs, Bruce Benton, and VP of Professional Development, Jack Holder, are pleased to share this podcast with CAHU members and the public. Host Dorothy Cociu and special guest Marilyn Monahan, of Monahan Law office, discuss the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) interim final rule for the No Surprises Act, Part 1. This act focuses on surprise billing for emergency services, as well as billing practices in certain non-network situations by limiting the amount payable to the network rate. Marilyn and Dorothy share the employer plan spo ..read more

In Part 2 of this 2-Part Podcast, CAHU V.P of Communications Dorothy Cociu continues her discussions with Ted Mayeshiba and Ted Flittner, Principals of Aditi Group, an IT Security/HIPAA Security/Cybersecurity firm, and Bruce Benton, a life and health and P&C agent, and Vice President, Public Affairs of the California Association of Health Underwriters on how to be better protected against Cyber Attacks. We discuss how to stay safe while traveling, working from home risks, potential new cybersecurity regulations, the importance of proper training, and we look at Cyber Liability Insurance an ..read more