News & Info Related To 2017 Open Enrollment

The business is in trouble when I get solicited by 2 discount medical plans (UHC and SingleCare), and an agent who said he can get me into my local CVS to man a table for medicare OE.

Everyone's reaching deep into the barrel to avoid or replace ACA products. With the demise of ACA, discount medical plans will once again, rise from the dead, and go back to pre-ACA plan confusion.

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Don't worry, an "implosion" is defined in the lib handbook as a rate increase of 75% or more. Not quite there yet, so don't misconstrue the facts.

Tennessee approves costly health exchange price hikes for state's biggest insurers | Times Free Press

Tennessee regulators have approved the full amount of the rate increases requested by the three health insurers still offering exchange plans under ObamaCare, pushing up rates by the biggest amount since the program began three years ago.

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the state's biggest health insurer, will raise individual rates by 62 percent in 2017, or nearly double the 36 percent rate increase adopted this year by BlueCross. Small group rates in the marketplace exchange will rise by only 6.5 percent, however.

Cigna got state approval to raise its individual rates for its ObamaCare plans by 46.3 percent, while Humana got the OK for a 44.3 percent jump in premiums for individual plans next year.

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I'm talking about the truth being spoken in TN below.
Coming (or arrived) to a state near you.

Tennessee insurance commissioner: Obamacare exchange 'very near collapse'

Tennessee's insurance regulator approved hefty rate increases for the three carriers on the Obamacare exchange in an attempt to stabilize the already-limited number of insurers in the state.

The rate approvals, while a tough decision, were necessary to ensure that consumers around the state had options when open enrollment begins in November, said Julie Mix McPeak, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is the only insurer to sell statewide and there was the possibility that Cigna and Humana would reduce their footprints or leave the market altogether.

"I would characterize the exchange market in Tennessee as very near collapse ... and that all of our efforts are really focused on making sure we have as many writers in the areas as possible, knowing that might be one. I'm doing everything I can to prevent a situation where that turns to zero," McPeak said to The Tennessean
 
Candidates running on repeal and replace Obamacare need to find a new pitch. That sucker won't be around long enough to repeal.
 
Tuesday, August 23, 2016

OSCAR continues to back pedal...

"According to a release from the company today, the firm will no longer offer individual market plans through the Affordable Care Act in Dallas, Texas, and New Jersey."

Source: Oscar pulls out of Obamacare exchanges in New Jersey and Dallas - Business Insider

ac

Hi Oscar

They pulled out of NJ/Dallas entirely, not just on-exchange, citing that instability will cause excessive growth, so they prefer to just drop their book rather than take in a ton of customers.

We live in a marketplace where an insurer's biggest fear is attracting customers...

They're expanding into San Francisco.

They plan on offering small group product in "most of our 2017 markets". Worth mentioning, they didn't file SG product in NY, and I don't know about TX/CA.
 
Nothing is certain.......yet. (except further deterioration)

Insurer Oscar to stop serving D-FW citing 'uncertainties' of area market | Dallas Morning News

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas says it has not made a decision about whether or not it will remain in the Obamacare marketplace in 2017. In May, it asked to increase the rate for individual plans it sells on the exchange market by and average of nearly 60 percent.

"There will be a period of ongoing interaction with regulators," regarding the rate submission requested, a representative for BCBS Texas said in an email.

Today is the final deadline for rate review to be finalized and decisions about what plans will remain on the marketplace should be finalized by late September, according a timeline from the federal Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.
 
"Issuers in the Individual Marketplace can choose to offer one or more "standardized options" with a specific cost-sharing structure at the Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels."

As I remember they should offer at least 2 plans. Should we expect one company offering 1 plan in some areas?
 
Not sure if the info I discussed is public yet... So I removed it just in case. Will be public soon enough...sorry guys
 
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That is very interesting. That sounds a lot like how CMS handles MAPD enrollments. FY MAPD commission is good, then any MAPD they enroll in at that point no matter the carrier is at a renewal commission. Do you feel that the last carrier standing will really pay any commissions at all, though, if CMS is doing all of the mapping? Otherwise you are being rewarded essentially for handing the business to their competitors in previous years.

Come to think of it, they are probably pretty happy about that after all.

I expect the majority of my off-ex people to start small groups (if eligible), go to health shares, or short term plans. I have off-ex clients whose insurance costs are going to go up $6000 annually even if they take the cheapest plan available (that I dont' sell). That just isn't affordable for the vast majority of mine.
 
Assuming carriers are being honest when they say that they do not want exchange business, the "last man standing" should be panicking now.

Too late for that carrier to quit too? If it's trapped and has to stay, this company would likely pay 0% commission, of any kind, wouldn't it?
 
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