BBG Two Minute Blog

Health Coverage By the Numbers (vol 2): The Cost of Coverage and Employer Contributions
Job-based health insurance is still far and away the largest single source of health care coverage in the U.S. As we continue to work on behalf of clients to drive new and better ways to stem the tide of health care costs, here are some key stats from 2017 to ponder:...
Health Coverage By the Numbers
Job-based health insurance is the largest single source of health care coverage in the U.S. 1.) Employer-sponsored insurance covers more than 157 million workers and their dependents. 2.) The next largest source of coverage, Medicaid, insures less than half as many,...
In Acquiring Aetna, CVS Health is Aspiring to Become “the Trusted Front Door to Health Care”. What’s the Impact on Current Aetna Customers?
In a letter to the broker community Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini provided a glimpse of where the combined CVS/Aetna entity hopes to head once everything is completed. If approved, the blockbuster transaction is expected to close late in 2018. Here’s what Bertolini had to...
Health Savings Accounts: The Metrics You Need To Know For 2018
In case you missed the IRS announcement in May, here’s a snapshot of the key inflation-adjusted limits for next year as we roll toward 2018. Health Savings Accounts (and the IRS compliant health plans that must be paired with HSA's) are subject to annual dollar limits...
Pharmacy Coupons and Insurance Companies Making Adjustments
This is an example of one Ohio company adjusting how they administer coupons people use at the pharmacy. The program helps make sure members’ out-of-pocket cost for prescription drugs are properly applied to deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket amounts. The benefit...
If You Have Employees Who Are Turning 65 And Confused About Medicare Advantage, This Article Will Help Them
With more and more folks remaining in the workforce past age 65, we are often asked by clients to help explain Medicare eligibility and options to those employees on the cusp of turning 65. This article from Kaiser Health News (reprinted with permission) provides...
Health FSA Limit Will Increase for 2018
The ACA imposes a maximum dollar limit on employee contributions to health flexible spending accounts (FSAs). Although the ACA set this limit at $2,500, the limit is indexed for cost-of-living adjustments each year. On Oct. 19, 2017, the IRS announced that, for...
Executive Order Ends the “Out-of-Pocket” Subsidy Only; the “Premium” Subsidy Remains in Place
Some folks may think that Friday’s Executive Order did away with Obamacare subsidies altogether. It didn’t. There are two subsidies. One was cut. One wasn’t. In a nutshell, one subsidy lowers the cost of premium (aka premium tax credits) for those qualified...
Wonder Why Our Healthcare Costs Are So High?
Bob Laszewski is an insurance health industry expert we regularly track to stay up to speed on the national healthcare picture. His typically even-handed analysis has been consistently the most accurate of any of the opinion leaders we follow. Here’s how Laszewski...
Want to Learn More?
Let us know how we can help.

Ohio
Florida
805 E. Bloomingdale Ave #777
Brandon, FL 33511
Pennsylvania
Contact Us
Toll Free: 866-845-8600
Fax: 866-539-5643
email: info@bbginc.net