In late December 2018, Judge Reed O’Connor of the North District of Texas, ruled the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional based on a change to the federal tax law that removed one of the health law’s major provisions of requiring all Americans to purchase health insurance or suffer a tax penalty. With the requirement to […] Read more
Officially, the Obama-era penalty for not having health insurance ends on December 31, 2018. The penalty is 2.5% of your household taxable income. For someone with $100,000 of taxable income, that would equal $2,500. But under the Affordable Care Act, an individual can go three months without having coverage and not pay the penalty. That […] Read more
More than one million Americans have already dropped the Obamacare plan that they purchased in 2018, according to a new study by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). Although nearly 12 million people signed up for a plan on the marketplace exchange, only 10.6 million actually paid their first premium payment and had an […] Read more
In late 2018 Trump administration announced it had rolled-back an Obamacare-era rule that limited short term health insurance plans. Today short term medical (STM) plan coverage can be extended to 364 days and depending on individual state rules and the insurance company, extended up to 36 months in total. We spent time with Jeff Smedsrud, CEO […] Read more
The U.S. economy posted a 3% growth rate for the third quarter of 2017, marking the first time in three years that the economy grew 3% or more in back-to-back quarters, according to the Commerce Department. Economists had expected an economic slowdown, accounting for significant property damage and job losses resulting from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma […] Read more
Compared to last year, the health insurance open enrollment period this year is: Shorter Has fewer plans available, in most areas Will be more expensive-much more expensive for many areas With health care expenses rising, health insurance is more important than ever. But many factors make insurance premiums costlier, with consumers paying greater out-of-pocket expenses. […] Read more
A recent study indicates that more than half of all Americans retire before age 65. If you’re deciding whether to retire early, a key financial consideration is how to maintain adequate health care coverage until your Medicare benefits begin. Since the passage of Obamacare, many early retirees have met their health insurance needs by enrolling […] Read more
Republicans in the Senate recently unveiled their health care legislation to replace Obamacare. Dubbed the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA), the Senate bill changes or eliminates many Obamacare provisions. The bill’s provisions for phasing out federal funding for Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, and changing the federal government’s funding structure for Medicaid, have many Medicaid recipients concerned. […] Read more
Despite all the hype coming out of Washington about repealing and replacing Obamacare with the new Trumpcare plan, the federal government continues to operate as if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will remain the law of the land in 2018. Case in point: the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated rules for […] Read more
These days, it seems that all the news outlets are speculating about what will happen to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Failed efforts in Washington to immediately repeal and replace the ACA, as promised by President Trump, continue to fuel uncertainty in the major medical health insurance market. However, even with the legislative unknowns, insurance […] Read more
