Consumer Driven Healthcare (CDH) Arrives...17 Years Later!

A recent Omaha World Herald article featured an article titled “Let the Comparison Shopping Begin”.  It’s about time!  Back in 1996, the large scale health care reform law of its day - The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) - included an extremely important provision referred to as the "Medical Savings Account (MSA) pilot project".  What we didn't realize at the time, was this provision represented the birth of so called "consumer driven healthcare" or CDH. 

Click here to access the full story - https://smstevensandassociates.com/ResourceLibrary/tabid/192/Default.aspx

Insights on Affordable Care Act's Health Ins. Exchanges or Marketplaces

There has been much speculation concerning the Affordable Care Act's so called "Health Insurance Marketplaces" (formerly referred to as Health Insurance Exchanges).  Many questions have been hanging in the air such as: 1. will insurance cos. choose to participate in these exchanges?; 2. how many insurers will opt to participate?; 3. what will premiums look like inside the exchange?; 4. will the exchanges be operational in time to place coverage effective 1/1/14? Today it was announced that the state of California's exchange (which choose to operate its own exchange, rather than defaulting to the federal option) will initially have 13 plans available for purchase.  What's very interesting, if not revealing, is which insurers opted NOT to participate in CA's exchange.  My guess is, readers of this blog post will recognize the insurers that opted NOT to participate better than the ones that opted TO participate, in CA's exchanges.

Click here to access the story - https://smstevensandassociates.com/ResourceLibrary/tabid/192/Default.aspx

IRS Announces 2014 HSA Limitations

The IRS has made their annual determinations relative to HSA contribution limits and allowable plan related out of pocket maximums for next year.  For 2014, the contribution maximums are increasing to...

click here to access full content - 

https://smstevensandassociates.com/ResourceLibrary/tabid/192/Default.aspx