Does ObamaCare Doom HSA/HDHPs?

[medx]

Source? Of course not, you don't have a source. It is possible that exchange plans will pay zero compensation, but that is not yet a foregone conclusion. My point was that the compensation will be minimal, at best.

Plans sold outside the exchange will pay HUGE commissions. I have no idea what makes you guys think otherwise? These will be traditionally underwritten plans, and companies will steer agents toward those plans by commissioned incentives.
Medicare Supplement Insurance

Medigap Insurance Plans


There will be a wide range of non-exchange plans from the bare bones to the full boat. My question has been and remains: how full can the full boat plan be and not be required to be marketed under the exchange?

If companies can in fact copy exchange plans and sell those outside the exchange, subject to underwriting, at ridiculous discounts - those plans will be very popular.

My home office people don't know the answers to these questions so with all due respect, I have no reason to believe that anyone on this board has any keen insights.

Considering that all qualified Health Insurance plans (whether sold in or out of the exchange) will have to pay 80% of Premiums back towards medical claims, how exactly did you come to the conclusion that "commissions will be huge"?

And If you don't sell a qualified plan, then the client will have to pay the Penalty to the IRS.

 

[jbage007]

Considering that all qualified Health Insurance plans (whether sold in or out of the exchange) will have to pay 80% of Premiums back towards medical claims, how exactly did you come to the conclusion that "commissions will be huge"?

And If you don't sell a qualified plan, then the client will have to pay the Penalty to the IRS.

I do not agree with your basic premise. My sources are telling me different.

 

[somarco]

high probability that employer plans will lose grandfathering when they change carriers.

Good chance almost every plan (group or individual) out there will lose grandfather status.

 

[Norwayguy]

If you like your plan you can keep it....Yes we can Yes we can....

Too bad the actual law they got passed does not conform to the sound bites he preached during his campaign for Obamacrap...Pretty much the only thing Obama is good for is Campaigning and it looks like his luster is dimming.

 

[VolAgent]

Too bad the actual law they got passed does not conform to the sound bites he preached during his campaign for Obamacrap...Pretty much the only thing Obama is good for is Campaigning and it looks like his luster is dimming.

Didn't he get asked not to go on the campaign trail? Rather like Bush 2006. Anyone remember if Bush was asked to stay home in 2002? Rather sad when a first term president isn't able to help his party during the mid-terms.

 

[medx]

I do not agree with your basic premise. My sources are telling me different.

Your sources are wrong.

Here are the facts:

80 cents of every dollar for individual health plans must be paid back towards medical claims, and 85 cents of every dollar of group health plans must be paid back towards actual medical claims.
And by 2014 you can not be turned down, or charged more because of pre-existing health conditions.

"Insurers will be required to spend between 80 cents and 85 cents of every premium dollar on health care"
Medigap
Medicare Supplemental Insurance
Humana

"to take effect next year, requiring insurers in the individual market to spend 80 cents of every premium dollar on claims, a higher "medical loss" ratio than many now adopt."
First wave of health-care changes will target insurers with new rules - washingtonpost.com

"The pool will be established within six months and will operate until 2014, when insurance companies can no longer refuse applicants with pre-existing health problems"

"Starting in 2014, insurers cannot deny coverage because of a person’s medical condition or charge higher premiums because of a person’s sex or health status. All new plans have to offer a minimum package of benefits defined by the federal government, including certain preventive services without any cost"

"Starting in 2014, insurance companies cannot deny coverage to anyone with preexisting"conditions.
Health Care Reform Bill Summary: A Look At What's in the Bill - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Americans who don't get qualified health insurance will be required to pay penalties starting in 2014, unless they are exempt because of low income, religious beliefs or membership in American Indian tribes. The penalties will be fully phased in by 2016.
4M to pay insurance penalty by 2016 - Washington Times

The penalties will average a little more than $1,000 apiece (per person)
4M to pay insurance penalty by 2016 - Washington Times

Medicare Medigap Insurance
Medigap Supplement Insurance
Aetna Humana Blue Cross Blue Shield
American Seniors Insurance
Medigap insurance medicare supplement plan f
Medicare Supplement News

 

[scagnt83]

I do not agree with your basic premise. My sources are telling me different.

You need to check your sources, because they are wrong.

There will be two types of HI plans after 2014; qualified & non-qualifed. Non-qualified plans will be subject to penalty.

There will be two types of qualified plans, exchange & non exchange plans.
The only difference between the two is that going through the exchange, customers will have the subsidy available to them.
Pricing, MLRs, benefits, etc. will all be the same with qualified plans.

And if you dont know about the 80% MLR, then you have had your head under a rock!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
But that does not mean that non-qualified plans will not be affordable for healthy to moderately healthy individuals, or have the benefits that they need.
All it means is that you will have to tack on an extra grand or so to the premium.
So if the carriers can price it with the fine and still keep it under exchange plans, they might have a good thing... but only time will tell, and I will bet $100 that in 2014 the provisions of the bill will have changed at least a bit.

 

[CHUMPS FROM OXFORD]

Also...still no definitive ruling if agent's compensation is part of the 80%. Being discussed right now.

 

[scagnt83]

Also...still no definitive ruling if agent's compensation is part of the 80%. Being discussed right now.

I cant see the idiots in Washington understanding why it needs to be. I hope I am wrong, but my guess is that we are SOL on that one!!

 

[jbage007]

I don't know who you guys are getting your information from, other than superficial snippets posted in various publications.

I know where I am getting MY information from, and it ain't the same source at all.

Mine, I do believe, will prove to be more reliable. (Hint: They are officers at *major* insurance companies.)

Again, at the risk of redundancy, here is the short version.

There will be 2 types of plans: qualified & non-qualified.

It is incorrect to suggest you can buy qualified plans in or out of the exchange and the only difference will be subsidies available. What sense does that make? If I am going to buy the same plan at the same price, then why the hell would I want to buy a non-subsidy version of it? duh.

All of those guidelines quoted ad nauseum relate to QUALIFIED plans and qualified plans ONLY.

Non-qualified plans will be subject to penalty - correct.

They also will be subject to - HIGHER COMMISSIONS. That's my favorite part.

These will be known as "limited benefit" or "mini-med" plans. At some point, this will be all most people can afford, irrespective of those juicy subsidies.

There are NO regulations relating to what constitutes a non-qualified plan, which makes further discussion of this topic, moot. There is one sentence in the 2000+ page bill that relates to these plans. One sentence! So those of you who think you know what these plans will be like have no basis in fact for reaching those conclusions.