MEC Plans Minimum Essential Coverage – Total Benefit Solutions Inc

The Benefits of Short-Term Health Insurance

May 5, 2023May 5, 2023Ed MacConnell

Short-term health insurance is a type of health insurance that provides coverage for a limited period of time, typically anywhere from 30 days to 12 months. These plans are designed to provide temporary coverage for individuals who are in between jobs, waiting for employer-sponsored coverage to begin, or who are not eligible for other types of health insurance. Affordable Premiums Short-term health insurance plans typically have lower premiums than traditional health insurance plans. This is because short-term plans are designed to provide coverage for a limited period of time and do not have to meet the same requirements as other types of health insurance. This makes them a more affordable… Read More

1095-B Tax Form Available Electronically for Employees of Cigna Fully-Insured Clients

February 12, 2023February 9, 2023Ed MacConnell

Effectively 1/1/23, Cigna transitioned from physically mailing 1095-B tax forms to on-demand electronic availability for customers on fully-insured client medical plans. Just one way Cigna is making healthcare simpler for customers, enrollees can access their 1095-B tax forms anytime, anywhere via myCigna.com® . Click here to read more. As always contact your Total Benefit Solutions group health insurance specialist at (215)355-2121 if you have any further questions or concerns.

What is Limited Medical Insurance?

January 29, 2023January 29, 2023Ed MacConnell

A limited medical plan is a form of supplemental health insurance that can be used with or without a major medical plan. Limited medical plans have a set amount of money for treatment that they give to you to pay for common medical expenses. They recognize that common services like wellness visits can sometimes turn into a financial strain for people. Since this type of insurance does not cover everything due to a predetermined limit on what you receive, you will want to look closely at the benefits before choosing a plan. It can be helpful to pair a limited medical plan with a major medical plan. Doctors visits and… Read More

Turning 26: Your Guide to Health Insurance

September 23, 2022Ed MacConnell

Turning 26: Your Guide to Getting Your New Health Insurance:https://totalbenefits.net/turning-26-your-guide-to-health-insurance/

Understanding the Coding of Health Plans from MEC to Metallic

August 15, 2022July 22, 2022Ed MacConnell

Choosing the right insurance plan for you (and your family) is not an easy task. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has introduced major changes to the way carriers traditionally marketed their health plans to the public and introduced a volume of new terms, requirements and complexities, many of which may sound confusing to the general public. From terms like “minimum essential coverage” to the various metallic plan categories of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum, a solid foundation of knowledge is essential in order to find the coverage required at an affordable price. The health insurance experts at Total Benefit Solutions Inc are well versed on these terms so when you… Read More

Case Study Library

July 22, 2022July 22, 2022Ed MacConnell

We present a few case studies to illustrate how we have helped our clients solve their complicated employee benefit challenges. Click here to learn more!

Updated FAQ’s on the ACA and Health Insurance

July 17, 2022Ed MacConnell

Kaiser Family Foundation ‘s database of frequently asked questions is searchable by topic. Click here to view the FAQ database.

Affordability of Health Coverage

July 11, 2022June 30, 2022Cayla Widdop

Applicable Large Employers, those with 50 or more full-time employees in the prior year, must offer their full-time employees minimum essential coverage providing minimum value that is affordable. A plan is affordable if the premium for self-only coverage does not exceed a certain percentage of the employee’s household income. The IRS sets the percentage each year. The baseline percentage was 9.5%. In 2022, the affordability percentage is 9.61%. In 2021, it was 9.83%. A plan will be considered affordable if its premium for the lowest cost, single-only plan does not exceed the identified percentage of an employee’s household income. Since household income is not readily available, employers use one of… Read More

Health Insurance Broker Change Leads to Better Results

July 7, 2022July 6, 2022Ed MacConnell

Watch Video The Issue A mid-sized group prospect was unhappy with their current broker and looking for a change. They thought more could be done to help control their employee benefit budget and were looking for guidance. They came to us with a 17% health insurance renewal. Our Solution Our team met with the business owner and Human Resource Director to review the following: The corporate goals and philosophy regarding employee benefits The benefit structure and costs of their present programs Options for cost containment strategies How to integrate wellness into their benefits portfolio Methods for better communication of the benefit programs to employees The Result The customer was pleased… Read More

Supreme Court Dismisses Latest Challenge to the ACA

June 29, 2021June 29, 2021Ed MacConnell

What is a Qualified High Deductible Health Plan?

May 25, 2021May 25, 2021Ed MacConnell

Heard of Reference Based Pricing Health Insurance?

April 12, 2021April 13, 2021Ed MacConnell

How Does Level Self Funded Health Insurance Work?

April 7, 2021April 7, 2021Ed MacConnell

We have received a lot of questions regarding the new level funding health benefit programs so we prepared this video to make it a little easier to understand. Ask us today if Level Funding your group’s health insurance might be a good for for your health plan! Contact your Total Benefit Solutions Account manager at (215)355-2121.

Impact of Key Provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 COVID-19 Relief on Marketplace Premiums

April 3, 2021April 2, 2021Ed MacConnell

there are millions of uninsured people who could be getting subsidized coverage on the ACA Marketplaces, but have not taken advantage of this financial help. In many cases, it may be that the financial help available to them is not sufficient to make the premium or the deductible affordable

ARPA Extends Open Enrollment for Individual Coverage in PA

April 1, 2021April 1, 2021Ed MacConnell

Departments Issue Guidance Re: FFCRA and CARES Act

March 16, 2021March 16, 2021Ed MacConnell

New COBRA Subsidy Begins April 1st under COVID Relief

March 15, 2021March 16, 2021Ed MacConnell

March 8, 2021March 4, 2021Ed MacConnell

What is a minimum essential coverage (MEC) plan?

February 26, 2021February 26, 2021Ed MacConnell

New Jersey Small Employer Stop Loss Bill

March 13, 2019March 13, 2019Ed MacConnell

A bill has been introduced in New Jersey in both the Senate and Assembly that, if passed, would prohibit insurance carriers or other insurers subject to the insurance laws of New Jersey or any other state from offering, issuing or renewing any stop loss insurance policy of any kind to small employers. Stop loss insurance provides reimbursement for catastrophic, excess or unexpected expenses and is used by small employers to self-insure part of the health insurance coverage they provide for employees. Under New Jersey law, in connection with a group health plan, a small employer means an employer with 2-50 eligible employees on business days during the preceding calendar year. If passed,… Read More

Introducing Reference Based Pricing with ELAP Services

November 6, 2018November 6, 2018Ed MacConnell

Total Benefit Solutions is proud to announce our partnership with ELAP services to provide our clients with the very best in reference based pricing benefit plans. Wondering if reference based pricing would be a good for your organization? Call us today to find out how it works at (215)355-2121!

Important Info! HSA Limits for 2019

November 1, 2018Cayla Widdop

What is an HRA and How It May See A Major Change Soon..

October 30, 2018Cayla Widdop

Before we get into how rules for HRAs may be changing, we should discuss what an HRA is and how it works. A Health Reimbursement Account (sometimes referred to a Health Reimbursement Arrangement) is an employer-funded group health plan that reimburses employees, tax-free, for qualified medical expenses up to a certain amount per year. This type of policy does not replace Medical Insurance and is usually coupled with a High-Deductible policy. Unlike an Health Savings Account (HSA), the Employee can not help to fund the account. Like HSAs though, there are maximum allowed contributions. In 2018, an Employer can fund an HRA up to $5,050 for a Single Employee and $10,250… Read More

House Passes Legislation to Change HSAs

August 14, 2018Cayla Widdop

The House of Representatives passed two pieces of legislation that, among other things, purport to improve and “modernize” health savings accounts (“HSAs”). While the bills call for significant changes to the current rules affecting HSAs, the specific details are very different. Both pieces of legislation have been sent to the Senate for consideration. Whether the Senate will take up these bills, let alone approve them “as is,” remains uncertain. There appears to be some bi-partisan agreement to loosen the current HSA rules, which means it is possible that we may see changes to these arrangements, which could be effective as early as January 1, 2019. When more information is available, we will… Read More

Category: MEC Plans Minimum Essential Coverage