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The new healthcare legislation ~ If I hardly use my insurance why do my rates keep going up?

Insurance is fundamentally a sharing of risk and, while you may not have had a bad claim year, someone in your risk pool did. Another factor in premium increases is the expected increased cost of care and following are the areas where the new healthcare legislation is about to hit all of us very hard.

First, starting in 2012 a new fee will be imposed on health insurance companies to fund comparative effectiveness research.

Additionally, starting in 2014 here are the benefits which will be added to all of our coverage:

1- no more pre-existing conditions limitations can be imposed;

2- everyone is guaranteed coverage irrespective of their health or claims history;

3- there will be no annual limits on coverage;

4- rates will be the same for male and female insureds;

5- "older" insureds' premiums can be no more than 3 times those of "younger" insureds;

6- smoker rates can be no more than 1 1/2 times those of non-smokers;

7- "essential benefits" will be provided with no lifetime limit;

8- subsidies will be provided for low income individuals and families;

9- a non-deductible premium tax will be imposed on insurance companies.

Each of these benefits has great merit, but each will result in increased costs to the system. Many of the provisions listed already apply to group insurance and we have seen their impact in the past few years in increased premiums compared to individual coverage which did not require the same mandates. This brings us to two questions : first, short of the impact we can have in the voting booth, what can we do to make health insurance affordable; and second, what happened to the promise of guaranteed access to cheap coverage with no pre-existing conditions?

Please forward questions to : ericadumpel@bellsouth.net.

The new healthcare legislation ~ Coverage of dependents to age 26

We have had several conversations in the past few weeks with individuals who are confused about the pending health insurance changes relative to coverage for dependents under age 26.

Implementation of the law is required at the first insurance contract renewal following September 23, 2010. Some insurance carriers have allowed students who graduated in May to stay on their parents' insurance plans as long as they were not yet 26 years old, others have removed them and will re-enroll them when the contract renews (after September 23.) Please be certain that your high school or college graduate is properly covered by checking with either your HR department or the insurance carrier directly. Also be sure to find out how to re-enroll any former students at the contract's renewal as well as how to add back in any dependents who are under age 26, but no longer on your plan currently.

Please forward questions to : ericadumpel@bellsouth.net.

Georgia House Bill 1055 : retirement income will no longer be taxed starting in 2016.

Beginning in 2016 retirement income will no longer be subject to state income taxation in Georgia for those over age 62. Also, the state portion of homeowners' property taxes for those over age 62 will be waived. The current income exclusion amount will gradually increase from its current level of $35,000 so benefits will improve each year until 2016. This may provide enough incentive for many citizens to retire in Georgia rather than move to a state with better tax benefits. Also, this may encourage some to spend money in retirement accounts that would normally not be available to boost our state economy. Mostly, it will cause some who are considering converting their IRAs to Roth IRAs to carefully consider this decision.

Where will the revenue loss be made up by the State of Georgia? I have my own thoughts, but for now please speak with your accounting and financial planning advisors to see how this legislative change may affect you.

Please forward questions to : ericadumpel@bellsouth.net

The new healthcare legislation ~ No more pre-existing conditions limitations

Just what does that mean?

What is a pre-existing condition? Something for which an individual has been treated in a pre-determined time before health insurance coverage starts, normally 12- 18 months.

When does a pre-existing condition normally become a covered charge? Once an insured has been on a plan for a pre-determined time, normally 12 months.

Is there not some credit for having had coverage before the new plan started? Most plans now waive the pre-existing limitations if an insured can prove prior coverage.

So what is going to be different? Starting September 23, 2010 no pre-existing conditions limitations can be imposed on any insureds under age 19. Effective January 1, 2014 this same rule will apply to all insureds irrespective of age.

How will this affect my coverage? If you need to change coverage from one carrier to another this legislation should make the task less daunting. But be aware that, as more claims will be covered sooner, rates will likely escalate even more than before. And that brings us to a future topic : how can an insurance company keep increasing my rates by so much when I never even use my plan?

Please forward questions to : ericadumpel@bellsouth.net

Do you know that we are available when :
1- you wonder how a medical procedure will be paid.
2- the bill from your provider does not look correct.
3- your premium bill has an error.
4- your insurance card is not working or you have lost it!
5- you are uncertain whether you have the best benefits at the best price.
6- your child has lost his / her full-time student status.
7- you are uncomfortable with where your retirement money is invested.

Whether you are an individual client or an employee of a group who is our client we are here to help you. Please contact us at 770-449-7369 or ericadumpel@bellsouth.net.