Update on COVID-19 Vaccine and Vaccine Administration Cost
Continue ReadingIndy Medicare Part D Health Plan Terminated
Indy Health Insurance Company, a stand-alone Part D plan in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, and Georgia has been terminated.
Continue ReadingHow Does Level Self Funded Health Insurance Work?
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.
Continue ReadingCan Employers Legally Mandate The COVID Vaccine To Return To Work?
Can employers mandate their employees get the COVID vaccine before coming back to the office? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Kara Govro, Senior HR Law Analyst, on Quora: With COVID-19 vaccinations underway and widespread availability in sight, many employers want to know whether they can require their employees to get the vaccine. Click here for the full story
Continue ReadingThink You’re Covered With Original Medicare?
Medicare in 2020 Everyone has heard of Medicare and over the years, here at Total Benefit Solutions have posted numerous articles explaining how Medicare works. We even wrote out a post about the history of Medicare a little over a year ago (That post can be found here ). However, nothing in the Insurance World stays still and every so often we like to revisit this sector of the Insurance Market and explain how Medicare works with some updates. This way, whether you’re new to Medicare, or you’ve been on it for a while, you are up-to-date on how your Insurance Plan works! Original Medicare (Part A and Part… Read More
Continue ReadingMedicare Won’t Cover This Key Expense…
Dental costs can take a huge bite out of seniors’ finances, even if they have Medicare. And many Seniors have to tap into their Retirement Funds to cover treatment.
Continue ReadingThe Future of Employee Benefit Offerings: Student Debt Repayment Assistance
When looking for a job, the benefits offered to an Employee are definitely a big factor in consideration of accepting an offer of employment. Most people are willing to choose a company with a slight pay decrease if the benefit package compensates for the lost wages. With unemployment the lowest it has been since 2000 in the United States, attracting new talent isn’t as easy as it used to be and Employers are looking for ways to snatch up qualified applicants. When you think of benefit packages, you usually think of the basics: Health Insurance (with possibly an HSA, HRA, or FSA included), Dental and Vision coverage. “Good” benefit packages… Read More
Continue ReadingWhy Offer an HRA to Your Employees?
Healthcare Reimbursement Arrangement, typically referred to as an HRA, can be utilized by employers to reduce their overall healthcare costs without placing additional financial burden on their employees. An HRA allows the employer to pay for eligible expenses with pre-tax dollars. The employer decides what expenses are eligible, within the IRS guidelines, leaving a lot of flexibility in plan design. Typically an HRA is coupled with a High Deductible Health Plan and the HRA pays for either the entire deductible or a portion of the deductible. With this type of a plan the premium savings often outweigh the potential claims that the employer would have to pay if every employee… Read More
Continue ReadingCMS Change to LIS/Dual Special Enrollment Period
CMS Change to LIS/Dual Special Enrollment Period
Continue ReadingMore than 23 cents of every healthcare dollar goes to Prescription drugs
More than 23 cents of every healthcare dollar goes to Prescription drugs
Continue ReadingEdward MacConnell of Total Benefits Solutions Reaches the Elite Level for the 2019 Marketplace Circle of Champions!
Edward MacConnell of Total Benefits Solutions Reaches the Elite Level for the 2019 Marketplace Circle of Champions!
Continue ReadingIf companies could give employees tax free money to buy health insurance on their own, how many would do so?
If companies could give employees tax free money to buy health insurance on their own, how many would do so?
We’re about to find out
Continue ReadingWhat is an HRA and How It May See A Major Change Soon..
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
Continue Reading“Can I use my HSA for…….?”
Health Savings Accounts and You Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) aren’t new. They’ve been around since late 2003. Initially they were created along with the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act to replace the Medical Saving Account System. Initially these plans were designed to help with Drug Costs under Medicare policies; However, as Insurance Premiums increased, more and more Employer and Individual Policies offered High-Deductible Plans to help curb costs. Due to that, HSAs were thrown into the spotlight as a way to use Pre-Tax Dollars to cover out-of-pocket Medical costs. In 2017, a reported 22million Americans have an HSA. Each year, that number continues to climb. Many people still have a… Read More
Continue ReadingPresident Trump Signs Prescription Drug Gag Clause Legislation
President Trump Signs Prescription Drug Gag Clause Legislation On Wednesday, President Trump signed into law S. 2553, the Know the Lowest Price Act, and S. 2554, the Patient Right to Know Drug Price Act. The legislation was passed by the House and Senate last month with bipartisan support and will ban “gag clauses” that prevent pharmacists from telling customers when they can save money on their prescriptions by paying out of pocket for the retail price of the drug, rather than using their insurance and making the co-payment. These bills comprise portions of President Trump’s “America First” prescription drug initiative that were released as part of a blueprint to lower drug prices in May.… Read More
Continue ReadingSocial Media Drive Winner Announcement!
Back in August we announced an End of Summer Social Media Drive Contest. The rules were very simple: If you left us a review, you were eligible to be entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift card valued from $25-$100… For each review you left us on one of our platforms (Google, Yelp, Facebook, Angie’s List, Linkedin, etc) you earned $25 towards that giftcard (up to four review max per person). The contest ran from August 1st, 2018 until September 30th, 2018, but today we finally got our winner. Our Front Office Coordinator, Samantha, joined me for the random drawing. Please watch the short video below to find… Read More
Continue ReadingHow to Protect Yourself from Medical Bankruptcy
According to a CNBC report, an estimated 2 million people were adversely affected by bankruptcies due to medical costs. In 2009, President Obama declared that someone files bankruptcies every 30seconds (or about 1million people are affected per year!). A popular Facebook meme, shown to the left said the number was 643,000 people a year. Healthcare costs make any of these stats seem realistic, but why are they so different? One reason is that people gather information from different studies made during different years. Even though most of the information comes within the last decade, there are tons of factors that affect our economy. In 2007, 822,590 consumer bankruptcies were filed, but for 2010,… Read More
Continue ReadingHouse Passes Legislation to Change HSAs
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
Continue ReadingGov. Wolf wants Pa. to operate Obamacare exchange
Gov. Wolf this week formally proposed setting up a state-based insurance marketplace, potentially protecting hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residents from the consequences of a Supreme Court decision that could gut Obamacare later this month. Read more at philly.com Remember that your Total Benefit Solutions professionals are trained, licensed, insured and available to help compare, shop and enroll all affordable care act plans on the healthcare Marketplace and off. As always contact us today if you have any questions or concerns at (215)355-2121.
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