At Sterling Benefits, we are proactively working with multiple resources to dissect the various facets of the law and to understand the guidelines and timelines it presents to our clients. You can expect that we will provide ongoing communications and information as interpretation and implementation details continue to unfold from the government.

Our priority at Sterling Benefits is to stay focused on delivering value and quality customer service to our customers as we work together with health care reform. Significant changes will take place in 2014. In the meantime, there are some items that will require attention much sooner. We will keep you posted as details and clarifications from the government are made available. We encourage you to review this information and utilize our office as a resource in addressing questions and concerns.

Friday, September 27, 2013

HHS Releases a Report of Health Insurance Marketplace Premiums for 2014

HHS released a report that summarizes the health plan choices and premiums that will be available in the Health Insurance Marketplace. It contains new information, current as of September 18, 2013, on qualified health plans in the 36 states in which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will support or fully run the Health Insurance Marketplace in 2014. Plan data is in final stages but is still under review as of September 18 and may be revised in HHS systems before being displayed for consumers, so this information is subject to change. 
This analysis also includes similar information that is publicly available from 11 states and the District of Columbia that are implementing their own Marketplace. This report focuses on the plans with the lowest premiums in each state, as consumers are expected to shop for low-cost plans. Nearly all consumers (about 95%) will have a choice of 2 or more health insurance issuers (often many more) and nearly all consumers (about 95%) live in states with average premiums below earlier estimates.... Individuals will have an average of 53 qualified health plan choices in states where HHS will fully or partially run the Marketplace.... Premiums before tax credits will be more than 16 percent lower than projected.

For a copy of the report, click on the link below:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2013/MarketplacePremiums/ib_premiumslandscape.pdf