Health Net Announces Rate Decrease!

Yes, the subject line is correct!

Health Net has announced that they are having a rate decrease on their HSA eligible High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) effective November 1st! Their new rates are very competitive and Health Net may be a very viable option for those groups that are on Blue Shield’s HSA plans.

They offer 7 different HSA eligible HDHPs. Their HSA plans fall into two different plan styles; Value and Standard.

Value Plans

- 4 Plans
$1,500 deductible/ $2,500 OOP
$2,500 deductible/ $3,500 OOP
$3,500 deductible/ $4,500 OOP
$4,500 deductible/ $5,000 OOP

- Copayments after deductibles until out-of-pocket maximums (OOP) are met

- $40 Annual Physical Exams (not subject to deductible)

Standard Plans

- 3 Plans
$2,000 deductible/ $2,000 OOP
$3,000 deductible/ $3,000 OOP
$4,000 deductible/ $4,000 OOP

- 100% Coverage after deductibles

- $30 Annual Physical Exams (not subject to deductible)

The Standard HSA $3,000 plan has rates that are competitive for groups currently on the Blue Shield HSA $3,000 plan.

Prior Carrier Deductible Carry-Over

Prior carrier deductible credit applies if the current PPO Policy is replacing a similar policy that had previously been issued to the Group Policyholder. If a covered member has satisfied any portion of the Calendar-Year Deductible under the prior carrier plan, the credit shall apply to the satisfaction of the covered member’s initial Calendar-Year Deductible under the current Policy. Proof of Deductible satisfaction under the prior carrier policy will be required upon submission of the initial Claim for benefits to be payable under the current Policy.

Want to see rates for your group? Contact our office to get quotes!

Thinking about changing to a January 1st Renewal Date?

It may be a good idea to look at changing your health plan so that you have a renewal date of January 1st. But will it really work for your group?

The Good and Bad

The good- Your plan year and calendar year will be the same! This is especially important if your group is currently on an HSA eligible High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).

Since your health plan’s deductible starts over on January 1st, it may work best for you to have your plan renew then too! We have had many groups that took large rate increases but stayed on the current plan. The Employer did this since it was already into the calendar year and some employees had met part or all of their deductibles. Changing to a January 1st renewal date makes it easier to change plans without having to worry about those that have already met their deductible!

The bad- You will take any rate increases on January 1st, instead of at your renewal. (For example, if your renewal is June 1st and you change your plan on January 1st; your rates change six months into your plan year. For then on, you will renew on January 1st of each year.)

If you are interested in changing your plan January 1st, or even interested at comparing the rates to your current plan, please call our office at (916) 781-3321 or send an email to Katie at katie@mcgrewmaher.com.

*Please note that we do not have January 1st rates yet. We expect to have them in the next 2-3 weeks. You can call or email to let us know that you would like to sit down and explore this option with us once we receive the rates.

Timeline For Notifications

We have recently been experiencing issues with notifications of changes. There are certain times when employees and/or their dependents can come onto your group plan. When any of these events occur, we must notify the insurance carrier in a timely manner.

These changes include:

• New Hires
• Re-Hires
• Terminations
• Birth
• Marriage
• Divorce
• Death

The insurance carrier needs to be notified within 30 days of any of these events. Failure to do so may make the employee and dependents ineligible to be added onto your plan (New Hire, Re-Hire, Birth, Marriage). Also, failure to notify the carrier in a timely manner will delay the date in which the employee and/or dependents can be taken off the group plan (termination of employment, death, employee request).

Please let our office know within 30 days of any event so that we can get you the required paperwork and assist you in letting the carrier know of changes so that they may be processed in a timely manner!

Kaiser Announces HSA Plan Changes

Kaiser has announced that their HSA Qualified Deductible Plans will be changing effective January 1, 2010. Both new and renewing groups will be affected. The changes will go into effect for renewing groups at the renewal date in 2010.

What's Changing

• The $0/$2,200 HSA Plan will be eliminated January 1, 2010
• Groups enrolled in the $0/$2,200 HSA Plan will be switched to $0/$2,700 HSA Plan at renewal, unless a different plan is requested
• Member deductibles and out-of-pocket limits will increase (see below)

$0/$1,500 HSA Plan Changes

*Will now be called the $0/$2,000 HSA Plan

Calendar-Year Deductible

Current- $1,500/$3,000 (Ind/Family)

New- $2,000/$4,000 (Ind/Family)

Out-Of Pocket Maximum

Current- $1,500/$3,000 (Ind/Family)

New- $3,500/$7,000 (Ind/Family)

$0/$2,700 HSA Plan Changes

Calendar-Year Deductible

No changes

Out-Of Pocket Maximum

Current- $2,700/$5,450 (Ind/Family)

New- $4,500/$9,000 (Ind/Family)

Blue Shield’s New Online Payment Tool

Blue Shield Small Groups can now pay their premium payment online!

With Blue Shield’s new online payment tool, Easy$Pay Online; Individual, Small Group and Medicare Supplement clients can spend save money and time by paying your premium online!

With Easy$Pay Online, you no longer have to be concerned about paying your Blue Shield premium on time because it's fast, convenient and at no added cost.

You can:

• Automatically pay your bills all with a simple click of your mouse
• Ease your worries about paying bills on time by setting up one-time or recurring monthly payments
• Conveniently track your payment status and view up to 12 months of payment history – all in one convenient location

Registration is easy

You just need to visit Blue Shield at www.blueshieldca.com and go to our customer registration page. At the login page, you can either select to register as an IFP or Medicare Supplement subscriber or Small Group Admin and you will need to answer a couple of questions to complete the process.

Please let our office know if you have any questions or need any assistance setting up your account!

We are Back Blogging!

After a hiatus from blogging, we are back! The next few months will be FULL of information as carriers are releasing new rates, plans and changes. We will be blogging on a regular basis so make sure you are checking back often to see the latest news!

McGrew & Maher