Live Insurance News

Health insurance options limitations annoys small businesses

December 19, 2013December 16, 2013 H. Cutner

As of next year, the only state (aside from two counties) without a “SHOP” will be Washington. In 2014, other than two counties near the border of Oregon, the only state that won’t have a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), will be Washington, which means that the small employers across that state won’t have health insurance options that will bring them the federal tax credits that would help to keep the cost of the coverage for their workers down under the Affordable Care Act. Although the state has dozens…

Health insurance trust formed in Indiana

December 5, 2013December 5, 2013 Logan B.

Access to federal exchange has been restricted Federal health insurance exchanges in the U.S. were meant to offer coverage options for small groups and businesses, but this feature of the exchange initiative has been put on hold until 2015, at the earliest. The decision to postpone this aspect of federal exchanges is meant to provide the exchange network with more time to iron out the multitude of technical problems it has been having over the past month. The problem, however, is that this means many small groups and businesses that…

Small business health insurance marketplace to be delayed until next year

December 2, 2013November 30, 2013 G. Turner

The changes that were made for the start of December are focused on selling to individuals. As the last month of the year gets going and massive changes were made to the federal exchange website, it is now known that an online small business health insurance marketplace will still be delayed until 2014. The troubled site has put off the launch of this feature until just under a year from now. As the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services reminds Americans that the implementation of fixes to the website “do…

Affordable Care Act may not be a “job killer”

October 12, 2013October 12, 2013 S.Vagus

Misconceptions concerning federal law create unnecessary tension in the job market The U.S. Affordable Care Act is surrounded by many myths and misconceptions. One of the most significant of these misconceptions is the idea that the federal law will lead many small businesses throughout the country to fire workers. This concept is tied to the health insurance mandates associated with the federal law. These mandates require businesses to provide health insurance benefits to full-time employees, but the law has its own designation for what qualifies as a full-time employee. The…

Health insurance provision delay could be a costly measure

August 5, 2013August 3, 2013 Marc

Health insurance provisions of the Affordable Care Act could cost the country money The Congressional Budget Office has released a new report concerning the delay of certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Early in July, the Obama administration decided that a number of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act would be delayed in order to allow businesses to better prepare for the financial implications of the federal law. The delayed provisions are focused on small businesses, requiring them to provide health insurance coverage to full-time workers. Small businesses…

Small business health insurance exchange may be coming to Mississippi

August 1, 2013July 30, 2013 Logan B.

Mississippi commissioner has plans for a state-run health insurance exchange Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney has a new plan concerning the state’s health insurance exchange. Chaney was recently involved in a controversial political battle with the state’s Governor regarding compliance with the Affordable Care Act and how the state’s exchange system should be formed and managed. Chaney had initially intended to run the state’s health insurance exchange himself, without the support of Governor Phil Bryant. This plan was rejected by the federal Department of Health and Human Service, but Chaney…

Health insurance major requirement delayed by Obama

July 3, 2013July 3, 2013 Julie Campbell

The president has unexpectedly announced a delay to the law requiring many businesses to offer coverage. President Obama shocked the nation with an announcement that was made in a significant concession to business groups, as the administration allowed for a delay in one of the central health insurance components of the healthcare law. This change was to a deadline for one of the components at the heart of the healthcare reform law. Now, many businesses that would have been required to offer health insurance to their employees as of January…