2015 November/December Health Insurance

November 1st 2015 thru January 31st, 2015 is literally the only time you can change plans. Once signed up for a plan you are locked in until January 2017. It’s a very important choice to make and our goal is to help you get the BEST policy for your specific needs.

There are some huge changes in the individual health insurance market. Moda has pulled out of WA, Group Health Cooperative has a True PPO plan and the WA Exchange has royally screwed up the renewal timeline. If people renew their Exchange account before Nov 24^th it won't work properly.

Below is a link to a blog article I wrote (with a video of how to sign up for 2016 health insurance and the plans that are best).  

http://www.achieve-alpha.com/2016-individual-health-insurance-washington-state/

Gary Franke

NAIFA-Washington Health Chair

2015 September/October Health Insurance

Tips on 2016 Health Insurance Plans

OPEN ENROLLMENT Nov 1st 2015 – Jan 31st 2016

Clients and Future Clients, hold back your excitement, as the season for renewing your 2016 Individual Health Insurance is upon us. You only get to do this once a year…literally, once you change you are locked in for 12 months. All kidding aside, it’s a very important choice to make and our goal is to help you get the BEST policy for your specific needs. Give us a call at 425-305-1900 for tips.

Deadlines for Signing Up

The only time you are normally able to sign up for Individual Health Insurance is from Nov 1st 2015 to Jan 31st 2016. If you want coverage for January 1st, the last day to sign up for coverage on the WA Health Exchange is December 23rd and Direct to the Carrier (if your income is above the Tax Credit chart below) is Dec 31st for most carriers.

Click Here For More Information

2015 May/June Advocacy

NAIFA WASHINGTON and WAHU working for their membership!

NAIFA WA members please read the following article from the President of WAHU about a meeting we had last Monday with regards to the changes of the Premera Blue Cross/LifeWise Health Plans.  Many of you wanted to know what we knew about this issue.  It was a very good meeting whereby NAIFA WA and WAHU discussed the issues that our respective members had about their decision to pay no commissions for their LifeWise business.  Please read.

~Sharon L. Sparling, NAIFA WA Government Relations Chair

WAHU Has Meeting with LifeWise Health Plan of Washington

Last week, WAHU Lobbyist Mel Sorensen, Immediate Past President Chris Free, and I, along with Sharon Sparling and Richard Ek of NAIFA (WA), met with the President & CEO Jim Havens and Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Executive Jim Messina, of LifeWise Health Plan of Washington, as well as the ‎Vice-President for Congressional & Legislative Affairs for Premera Blue Cross Len Sorrin, to review and discuss the recent announcement by LifeWise that they will be re-structuring their plans and discontinue paying commissions to Producers starting in 2016 (2017 in Clark County).

2015 March/April Advocacy

Senate and House Approve Competing Budget Proposals for 2015-2017 Biennium

Within only few hours of each other, the House and Senate separately approved competing budget plans for the 2015-2017 biennium. The House approved a $39 billion spending plan that will require $1.5 billion in increased taxes. The Senate approved a $38 billion operating budget that does not include tax hikes. The House approved its plan on Thursday, April 2, and the Senate countered with its proposal a few hours later, with action on a series of budget-related bills keeping the Senate working until nearly 4:00 a.m. on Friday morning.

Negotiations to find common ground will be difficult. Senate leaders have indicated that they won’t take the House-passed spending plan seriously until the House approves the taxes that support the spending increases. On the other hand, House leaders argue that the Senate-passed spending plan is more than $40 million short of balancing. With the 2015 Legislative Session scheduled to adjourn on April 26, efforts to find an agreement on the budget will move into high gear.

December 2013 Advocacy

NAIFA Washington “Day on the Hill” 2014

 

“Day on the Hill” is scheduled January 21st in Olympia.   When it comes to political advocacy and protecting the interests of its members, NAIFA is one of the best in the business.  Our many successes have hinged on NAIFA Washington's favorable relationships with their legislators.


Challenges remain to bring the uninsured Washingtonians into the system and to reduce the high cost of health care for everyone.  We will have an update from the CEO of the Washington Health Benefits Exchange.

2013 June/July Health & Employee Benefits

Good things come to those who wait... right?

The following are just a few of the issues that need to be addressed before the October open enrollment of the State and Federal Exchanges.

Back in April, HHS released the long awaited proposed rule outlining standards for the navigator program in health insurance exchanges and, as usual, NAHU submitted a comment letter. Earlier this week we received word that the final navigator rule is at the Office of Management and Budget, which is every rule’s last stop before being issued and published in the Federal Registrar.

The proposed rule clarified who may be navigators, outlines navigator duties and proposes conflict of interest and privacy and training standards.

The proposed rule does not apply to traditional agents and brokers, who can choose to still continue to help individual and small-group health insurance consumers, including with exchange purchases under separate rules.  Alternatively, the proposed rule does provide a path for agents and brokers to serve as navigators; however, that path would require a significant change in most agents’ business model, as a producer who opted to become a navigator could not receive any commission or other compensation from a health insurance issuer or stop-loss insurer.