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....
by Tom Barrett | Jan 30, 2018 | General Health, General Insurance Issues, Health Policy, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Issues, Insurance, Uncategorized
With healthcare seemingly out of the political crosshairs for the moment and any tectonic shifts emanating from a new Amazon/Berkshire Hathaway/J.P. Morgan Chase superpower health entity a ways down the road, employers may get to experience some at least temporary...
by Tom Barrett | Dec 8, 2017 | Employer Issues, General Health, General Insurance Issues, Healthcare Issues, Insurance, Managed Care - Group Health, National News, News and Events, Uncategorized
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...
by Tom Barrett | Nov 21, 2017 | Employer Issues, General Health, General Insurance Issues, Health Policy, Insurance, Uncategorized
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...
by Tom Barrett | Oct 25, 2017 | Employer Issues, General Health, General Insurance Issues, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Issues, Insurance, Medicare Medicaid, National News, Uncategorized
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...
by Mike Barrett | Oct 23, 2017 | Employer Issues, Healthcare Costs, Uncategorized
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...
