by Tom Barrett | Sep 18, 2018 | Employer Issues, General Health, General Insurance Issues, Health Policy, Healthcare Issues, Insurance, National News
On June 19th the Department of Labor released final regs that offer new options for associations to sponsor health plans for their members. There’s no clear picture yet of what will emerge out of the new “Association Health Plan” (AHP) regs and how the...
by Tom Barrett | Jun 27, 2018 | Employer Issues, General Health, General Insurance Issues, Health Policy, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Issues, Insurance, Uncategorized
(Note: Yesterday in Part 1 we highlighted Gawande’s view of the three big systemic problems with healthcare. Today in Part 2 we’ll summarize his vision for the ABJ-HCE.) Last week Amazon/Berkshire/JP Morgan Chase announced the appointment of renowned author, surgeon,...
by Tom Barrett | May 25, 2018 | Employer Issues, General Insurance Issues, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Issues, Insurance
Great friend, colleague, and highly respected industry consultant Joe Paduda writes today in his widely read Manage Care Matters column about the possible cost and claim shifting implications of uninsured and underinsured workers. In it he makes specific reference to...
by Tom Barrett | Apr 20, 2018 | Employer Issues, General Health, General Insurance Issues, Health Policy, Healthcare Issues, Healthcare Reform, Insurance, National News
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) recently announced that employers in the small group market that are currently still enrolled in Transitional Relief Plans (also known alternatively as Keep Your Plan, Grandmothered Plan, Pre-ACA Plan, etc.,) may keep their...
by Tom Barrett | Apr 10, 2018 | Employer Issues, General Health, General Insurance Issues, Health Policy, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Issues, Healthcare Reform, Insurance, National News, Uncategorized
In a CMS press release the Trump Administration announced yesterday, as expected, that beginning in 2019 individual states will have more control and greater flexibility in regulating the individual health insurance market and the Obamacare Marketplace (aka the...
by Tom Barrett | Feb 27, 2018 | Employer Issues, General Health, General Insurance Issues, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Issues, Insurance, National News, News and Events, Uncategorized
A month and change has now passed since the great splash of January’s big Amazon/Berkshire/Chase health venture announcement. It certainly was successful in disrupting the news cycle. The initially sky-high healthcare “Richter Scale” readings are returning to normal....