Rideshare Tricks - An Update
So, just over 3 years ago, we posted on the opportunities - and dangers - of ride-sharing:"Seeing a business opportunity in millions of cars that sit idle at office parking lots or on weekends, several start-up companies have introduced "peer-to-peer" car-sharing services"We noted at the time that there were still a number of unanswered questions vis insurance coverage for folks who rented out their vehicles, and those who rented them.Fast-forward 3 years, and the PIA (Independent Agents' association, primarily for P&C folks) has some new news, in the form of a handy flyer that details all the potential issues. Among t...
Source: InsureBlog - July 29, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Flying Monkey's and Unicorns
No bones about it. I don't like Obamacare. If you have the time, I can give you a long list of reasons. But let's start with an email I received from a lady in Georgia looking for "affordable" health insurance. Let's call the lady Dorothy, and her husband, Toto. I am a self employed consultant and my husband is an independent sales rep. I need a health insurance plan for both of us. Can you help us weed through all this and find something?Sure can, but I need to know if you have recently lost coverage. You can only buy coverage when the government says you can. We were covered by a client that had me under contract and pro...
Source: InsureBlog - July 28, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Obamacare Outrage
Has your health insurance coverage been cancelled? Are your rates under the "Affordable" Care Act unaffordable? Join the club at MyCancellationhttp://mycancellation.com/post/66881009752http://mycancellation.com/post/66880955868http://mycancellation.com/post/66881156889http://mycancellation.com/post/69508765121Harry Reid would say this is all lies.I say Harry Reid is a liar.Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - July 28, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
A Grace-ful Benefit Revolution
Over at Benefit Revolution, Craig Gottwals has an in-depth look at the 90 day grace period conundrum (about which Bob first blogged here last year). Briefly, folks who buy a plan on-Exchange (and who get a subsidy) have a unique opportunity to game the system in a big way.Craig's post also features an interesting video of his (very) recent appearance on the A&G Radio show discussing the issue.Nice job, Craig!Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - July 26, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
State Exchanges vs Subsidies
While we wait for the Halbig/King decisions to be resolved, and noting that they may not be as big a deal as so many folks believe, here's video proof that it was no "drafting error" [ed: skip to just past the 31 minute mark for the money quote]: In case you can't make it out, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber - a key player in designing The ObamaTax - clearly says "What’s important to remember politically about this is if you're a state and you don’t set up an exchange, that means your citizens don't get their tax credits."Oopsies! [Hat Tip: Reason]Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - July 25, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
I see fake people...
So here's the thing:"Investigators ... created 12 fake health insurance test applicants and... have gotten qualified health plan (QHP) coverage for 11 through the [404Care.gov site]."So what's the big deal?If someone hacks your Visa card, they can (potentially) rack up some major purchases. But who in their right mind wants to steal insurance?Here's the problem(s):As Bob points out, it underscores just how poorly the 404Care site was designed and implemented, and how it continues to be an embarrassment to all who've worked on it (assuming they had any shame to begin with). More importantly, though, folks who successfully g...
Source: InsureBlog - July 24, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Heroic Carrier Tricks: CNA edition
Back in the day, the Cincinnati Life Insurance Company sold Long Term Care insurance (LTCi), and a colleague (since retired) sold a number of these. Recently, a Cincinnati LTCi client called to complain about a claims problem, and I was happy to try to help out.Note: I had understood (mistakenly, as it turned out), that Cincinnati had actually sold its block of business to another carrier. This is a not-infrequent occurrence in the LTCi biz, but was not the case here. Instead, they had turned over policy service to a Third Party Administrator, LTCG, which also services other carriers' policies, including CNA. Unfortunately...
Source: InsureBlog - July 24, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Cavalcade of Risk #213: Don't Panic edition
Econ-blogger extraordinaire Jason Shafrin hosts this week's short but eclectic collection of risk-related posts, from life and health insurance to Worker's Comp, and plenty in-between. Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - July 23, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Five Takeaways from Halbig and King
1. The decision on Halbig (D.C. Circuit) isn't taking subsidies away from people nor is the decision on King (4th Circuit) to allow everyone who qualifies to receive a subsidy. It is simply about the law and how it is interpreted. One might also ask how one court ruling said 36 states were federal exchanges while the other ruling said 34 states were federal exchange. This is what happens when a law is poorly written, rushed to a vote, and passes. We end up with a discombobulated mess. This isn't unique to Obamacare. Many other laws that were rushed through end up ...
Source: InsureBlog - July 23, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Dumb Carrier tricks...Kaiser Edition
For the last month, I've been receiving emails from Kaiser about a change in policy:As your business partner, we want to make you aware that Kaiser Permanente’s subscriber termination policy will be enforced effective August 1, 2014, for small groups only (not applicable for large groups).Small groups can no longer retroactively terminate subscribers or dependents prior to the month we receive the request. As a result, all subscriber terminations will be effective in the month we receive the request unless a future termination date is requested. For example, if you or one of your clients requests to terminate a...
Source: InsureBlog - July 22, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
More on Halbig [UPDATED]
Continued from this morning.Meanwhile, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that the subsidies do, in fact, apply across all the Exchanges, putting it in direct conflict with Halbig.One would think that this would mean a certain trip to the Supremes, but maybe not:"One thing the Supreme Court takes into consideration when deciding to take cases is whether or not there's a split in how various circuits are treating an issue. Right now there's a split but if they go en banc at the DC circuit and the heavily Democratic full court overturns the panel's decision that eliminates the split and could give SCOTUS an out o...
Source: InsureBlog - July 22, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Game Changer [UPDATED]
U.S. Court of appeals delivers body blow to Obamacare handouts. In a case with potential to scramble the Affordable Care Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that federal subsidies for health insurance were not properly designed.If upheld by the Supreme Court, the ruling could limit subsidies on the federal healthcare.gov exchange currently used by 36 states. (Click link to see ruling)Washington ExaminerFrom HGS: This is, in fact, VERY big, and we'll have more on this as the day progressesCAVEAT: While this is, indeed, good news, it's not a "done deal:" this was a small panel of three judges on the DC ...
Source: InsureBlog - July 22, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Stupid Anthem Tricks: One Week Later
For those following along at home, it's now been a week since we reached out to Anthem for the answer to a very simple question:"Does one receive deductible credit from a "legacy" plan when one transitions to an ACA one or not?"[ed: I had initially reached out to Anthem last Monday, but gave them a few days to respond before posting that]I just emailed my contact to see if she'd gotten a definitive answer yet, and she's replied "I have not. Still waiting."Since this seems to be dragging on, I've suggested to my client that we file a formal complaint with the Ohio Department of Insurance. I'll let you know if she's up for d...
Source: InsureBlog - July 21, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Navigator Two-fers
So those unlicensed, unvetted Navigators, which (at last count) cost over $67 million, have racked up some pretty impressive numbers.For certain values of "impressive:""If you do the math, 28,000 individuals assisting 10.6 million people over 210 days breaks down to 1.8 people per day per service representative."Bob broke these numbers down a little differently, but the point remains the same: a colossal failure. Part of the problem was baked into the cake: because of the complexity of the subsidy calculations and the sheer number of available plans, coupled with folks with no prior insurance experience or knowledge, Navig...
Source: InsureBlog - July 18, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
Cavalcade of Risk #213: Call for submissions
Jason Shafrin hosts next week's Cav. Entries are due by Monday (the 21st).To submit your risk-related post, just click here to email it.You'll need to provide:■ Your post's url and title■ Your blog's url and name■ Your name and email■ A (brief) summary of the postPLEASE remember: ONLY posts that relate to risk (not personal finance tips and the like). And please only submit if you are willing to link back to the carnival if your submission is accepted. Original content copyright © InsureBlog (Source: InsureBlog)
Source: InsureBlog - July 18, 2014 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs
