Author Archives: HPA
Open enrollment’s over, but there’s still plenty to sell
The third annual open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act has now come to an end. We hope you had a successful three months. We just wanted to take a moment to remind brokers who have an online storefront … Continue reading
Individual Mandate may be bigger incentive for young people to sign up
As we near the January 31st deadline for 2016 health insurance coverage, you may be scrambling to find a few more people to send to your private exchange site, where they can sign up for coverage on or off the … Continue reading
Squeeze in a few more individual sales with these email tips
In last week’s Washington Update, the National Association of Health Underwriters published some advice for agents about sending one last email to their database before the end of the open enrollment period. The tips were put together by CMS and … Continue reading
Higher premiums don’t impact all consumers
A recent Kaiser Health News article explains that rising premiums in the individual market don’t impact all consumers in the same way. While most of us cringe at the thought of our monthly health insurance bill going up, people receiving … Continue reading
Supreme Court refuses to hear ACA constitutional challenge
At this point most of us know that there are two possible ways to change or overturn the Affordable Care Act: through legislative action or a court ruling. Congress has tried unsuccessfully — over 40 times now — to repeal … Continue reading
Are doctors really that important?
There’s been a lot of criticism of the individual market recently. The premiums are out of control, some say, and others complain about the narrow-network HMO plans with no out-of-network options. While it is true that people with chronic conditions … Continue reading
Business owners overestimate workers’ desire for health insurance
The main reason employers offer health insurance to their employees, as we all know, is to attract and retain quality workers. The assumption is that employees appreciate the benefit so much that they factor it into their decision to accept … Continue reading
OPEN ENROLLMENT: How to make the second half more successful than the first
If you sell individual health insurance, you don’t need us to tell you that this has been a difficult open enrollment period—you already know. With rising premiums, rising out-of-pockets, and shrinking networks, the products we’re trying to sell are far … Continue reading
One more week for 1/1 effectives
The 2016 open enrollment period isn’t yet halfway over, but brokers only have one week left to sign clients up for a January 1 effective date. After that, new enrollees will be effective February 1, and those enrolling between January … Continue reading
Health Insurance: Is it time for employers to throw in the towel?
It’s hard to look at the results of this year’s Kaiser Family Foundation/HRET Employer Health Benefits Survey and not ask yourself whether this is just a losing battle for business owners. For the annual survey, nearly 3,200 non-federal public and … Continue reading