Are you ready for Health Care Reform?  Click the link below for a simple to understand presentation that may prepare you for 2014.  Our office is ready to assist you with purchasing new coverage and guiding you through the application process this fall.  Do you qualify for a subsidy?  Have you or any of your family or friends been denied coverage for health reasons?  Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina will be in the exchanges well as outside of the change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o84Xz3_BQjc&feature=youtu.be

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

As we begin to look towards health care reform, it will be important for you to decide whether to keep your grandfathered Blue Cross Blue Shield plan or to switch to a new Non Grandfathered plan.

You have flexibility. If you like your current plan, you ca stay with it.   For may people, this will be the best course of action because it may be the least expensive option.

You may qualify for a premium tax credit that can be applied to health insurance premiums; however, premium tax credits cannot be applied to your current grandfathered plan.  It may still be in your best interest financially to stay with your grandfathered plan.

Before moving forward, you should take the time to evaluate both the benefits of staying with your current grandfathered plan and the benefits of 2014 BCBSNC health care reform compliant plans.

The choice is yours. Remember, avoid the penalty and keep a plan.  It is important to note: once you leave a grandfathered plan, you cannot go back to it.  If you have questions, we’re here to help.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

The information in this article was taken from “Health Care Reform is Coming” from BCBSNC on April 2013.

NEW YORK — About 550,000 people in Oregon do not have health insurance, and Aaron Karjala is confident the state’s new online insurance exchange will be able to accommodate them when enrollment under President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform begins on October 1.

What Karjala, the chief information officer at “Cover Oregon,” does worry about, however, is what will happen if the entire population of Oregon — 3.9 million — logs on that day “just to check it out,” he said. Or if millions of curious souls elsewhere, wondering if Oregon’s insurance offerings are better than their states’, log on, causing Cover Oregon to crash in a blur of spinning hourglasses and color wheels and an epidemic of frozen screens.

Multiply that by another 49 states and the District of Columbia, all of which will open health insurance exchanges under “Obamacare” that same day, and you get some idea of what could go publicly and disastrously wrong.

Obamacare, formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), could fail for many reasons, including participation by too few of the uninsured and a shortage of doctors to treat those who do sign up. But because its core is government-run marketplaces selling health insurance online, the likeliest reason for failure at the opening bell is information technology snafus, say experts who are helping with the rollout.

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Health care reform is on many of our minds.  After all, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), will be in full swing by January 2014. But many people
still have questions about what the ACA is and how it will affect them.

We’re going to walk you through the ACA and help you understand how  it could affect your premiums, your health insurance coverage and costs.
And we’ll discuss your options for finding a plan that’s right for you or your small business.  Health care reform is on many of our minds.

Watch our informative Video and learn more about the Affordable Care Act and how it will impact you, your family and your business.  Our agency will help you make a plan selection through Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC or Blue Cross products through the exchange.  Keep in mind, if you qualify for a subsidy, you will need to select a plan offered by BCBSNC through the exchange and we will be here to guide you through that process.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

Already a Blue Cross Blue Shield individual member? We know you have questions about how to prepare your family for Health Care Reform.  Jerry Ballard & Associates has the perfect personalized tool for you…. BLUE MAP!

Blue Map is on online tool created by BCBSNC to help address your 2014 Health Insurance options.  This tool will help you find the right solution.  Just answer a few simple questions, and get a personalized recommendation based on your member profile that will outline your options.  This interactive, easy-to-use web application is designed to provide you with personal options, explaining the choices you have in choosing a plan.  Check out Blue Map today as you begin to prepare for your 2014 Health Insurance needs.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

The information in this article was taken from “Health Care Reform is Coming” from BCBSNC on April 2013.

As you begin to prepare for 2014, you will need to be familiar with the following terminology…

Affordable Care Act (ACA)– The law intended to address issues with our health care system by increasing access to health insurance, introducing reform and improving quality  also referred to as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Health Insurance Marketplace– An online insurance marketplace where individuals can compare, shop for and buy qualified health insurance plans.  Also known as an “Exchange”.

Federal Poverty Level (FPL)– A measure of income level (by family size) that determines eligibility for premium tax credits.  For example, a family of four that makes less than $94,200 a year may be eligible for help.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

The information in this article was taken from “Health Care Reform is Coming” from BCBSNC on April 2013.

Terminology that you will need to understand as you begin to prepare for the Affordable Care Act.

Premium Tax Credits- These will be made available to low and middle income Americans and applied to health insurance premiums.  Cost Sharing Reductions will limit a plan’s maximum out-of-pocket costs.

Grandfathered- Refers to health insurance plans that were in  effect prior to March 23, 2010 and that have not undergone specific changes.  The ACA allows grandfathered plans to be exempt from some ACA requirements.

Health Care Reform (HCR)- The changes that will occur on January 1, 2014 as a result of the comprehensive health care reform law known as the AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

The information in this article was taken from “Health Care Reform is Coming” from BCBSNC on April 2013.

What is the penalty for noncompliance?

If you do not have health insurance, the penalty is the greater of:

For 2014, $95 per uninsured person or 1 percent of household income over the filing threshold;

For 2015, $325 per uninsured person or 2 percent of household income over the filing threshold, and

For 2016 and beyond, $695 per uninsured person or 2.5 percent of household income over the filing threshold.

There is a family cap on the flat dollar amount (but not the percentage of income test) of 300%, and the overall penalty is capped at the national average premium of a bronze level plan purchases through an exchange.

For individuals under 18 years old, the applicable per person penalty is one-half of the amounts listed above. Beginning in 2017, the penalties will be increased by the cost-of-living adjustment. Who will be exempt from the mandate?  Individuals who have a religious exemption, those not lawfully present in the United States, and incarcerated individuals are exempt from the minimum essential coverage requirement.

Are there other exceptions when the penalty may apply?

Yes. A penalty will not be assessed on individuals who cannot afford health coverage based on formulas contained in the law, anyone who has income below the federal income tax filing threshold, any members of Indian tribes, anyone who were uninsured for short coverage gaps of less than three months; or if they have received a hardship waiver from the Secretary, or are residing outside of the United States, or are bona fide residents of any possession of the United States.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act includes a mandate for most individuals to have health insurance or potentially pay a penalty for noncompliance. Individuals will be required to maintain minimum essential coverage for themselves and their dependents. Some individuals will be exempt from the mandate or the penalty, while others may be given financial assistance to help them pay for the cost of health insurance.

What type of coverage satisfies the individual mandate?

“Minimum essential coverage”

What is minimum essential coverage?

Minimum essential coverage is defined as:
•Coverage under certain government-sponsored plans
•Employer-sponsored plans, with respect to any employee
•Plans in the individual market,
•Grandfathered health plans; and
•Any other health benefits coverage, such as a state health benefits risk pool, as
recognized by the HHS Secretary.

Minimum essential coverage does not include health insurance coverage consisting of excepted
benefits, such as dental-only coverage.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

A basic tenet of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to expand coverage and accessibility of health insurance to most, if not all, Americans. Coverage is expected to increase by up to 32 million people through expanding Medicaid and offering premium and cost-sharing subsidies to make insurance more affordable for those who do not qualify for Medicaid. In addition to these programs, states will also have the option of implementing a Basic Health Plan (BHP). If states choose to operate a BHP, they will be given 95 percent of what the government would have spent on subsidies for the enrolled population between 133 and 200 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL).

What is a BHP?

Beginning on January 1, 2014, states have the option to offer a BHP to their residents in lieu of individuals receiving federal subsidies. The BHP will have to meet certain criteria:

• Essential health benefits must be covered;
• Premiums must not exceed those of silver-level plans (the second lowest) on the Exchange;
• Certain actuarial minimums must be met; and
• Medical loss ratios may not fall below 85 percent.

The requirements mentioned above are the minimum requirements; states are allowed to offer more generous coverage (examples include that of Medicaid or State Children’s Health Insurance Plans (CHIP)). The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a request for information (RFI) on September 1 in an attempt to gather information that may assist in the development of the BHP regulations. If states decide to offer a BHP, they may contract with one or more private insurers or build on existing state-run programs like Medicaid and CHIP. If North Carolina decided to implement a BHP, BCBSNC will need to evaluate how we can best serve that population and our current members.

The BHP in ACA was modeled after a similar program that began in Washington State. The Washington BHP (WBHP) began in 1987 and differs slightly from the federal program. In WBHP, subsidies are distributed to help low-income residents afford insurance premiums. Both residents and the state participate financially and the program is run more like an insurance program than an entitlement program. In November of 2011, Gov. Gregoire of Washington recommended eliminating the WBHP because of a state budget shortfall and the high cost of the program.

Eligibility

To determine eligibility for the ACA-prescribed BHP, an individual must:

1. Be younger than age 65 at the beginning of the plan year;
2. Have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of above 133 percent but below 200 percent of the federal poverty line (meaning, in 2011, an individual with an income from $14,484 to $21,780);
3. Be a legal resident immigrant who has lived in the United States for less than five years whose income falls below 133 percent, but whose immigration status prevents them from being eligible for Medicaid; or
4. Not have access to affordable, comprehensive employer-sponsored coverage.

If a state accepts the federal funds to operate a BHP, these individuals will no longer be eligible to shop on the Exchange and receive subsidies.

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.

The information in this article was taken from Nchealthreform.com on 1/13/2012.