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Why Section 105 Plans are Better Than Section 125 Plans (Post-2014)
As businesses plan their health benefits strategy for 2014 and beyond, many are looking at ways to incorporate the advantages (and cost savings) of the individual health insurance exchanges and the...
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FAQ: What are the Metallic Tiers of Coverage?
Beginning in 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance plans in the individual and small group markets to provide insurance plans by four standard levels of coverage. These four...
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Why Individual Health Insurance is Better for Employees, and Employers
In the past, most Americans received health insurance through their employer. In fact, only 6% of the US non-elderly population has an individual health insurance plan. But, individual health insurance...
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Same-Sex Marriage Now Recognized for Federal Tax Purposes, Including HRAs
On August 29, 2013 the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service ruled that same-sex couples, who were married under jurisdictions that recognize their marriages, will be treated...
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Pop Quiz: 12 Employee FAQs on The Health Insurance Exchanges
Many provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA or ObamaCare) have already taken effect, but the biggest health reform changes are coming soon. One of these big changes is the health insurance...
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Nebraska Health Insurance Exchange Update – Plan Rates
The Nebraska Health Insurance Exchange recently released proposed rates for health insurance plans that will be offered through their federally-run health insurance exchange opening October 1,...
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No Bank Account? Pre-Paid Debit Cards Allowed for Exchange Health Insurance...
A concern with the new health insurance exchanges has been how the "un-banked" consumers, people without checking accounts, would pay for exchange health insurance plans. Typically, insurers require...
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Buzz Aside... 2 Facts to Consider with the Health Insurance Marketplace Rates
For anyone following the new health insurance marketplaces and the highly anticipated rate announcements rolling in over the last couple of months, there's been a lot of buzz about whether the rates...
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Who Can Administer a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)?
Health Reimbursement Arrangements, also referred to as Health Reimbursement Accounts or HRAs, provide small businesses an affordable health benefits solution. HRAs are growing in popularity because...
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U.S. Unemployment at a Four Year Low - Rates by State
The U.S. unemployment rate fell last month (July 2013) to a 4.5 year low of 7.4%, down from 7.6% in June. Why does this matter to small businesses? There are over 6 million small businesses in the U.S....
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Employer Notice of Health Coverage Options Due October 1
With October 1st right around the corner, the deadline for employers to provide notification to employees about their health coverage options and the health insurance marketplaces is coming near.The...
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Small Businesses Feeling the Pressure to Retain Key Employees
In many parts of the country, unemployment has decreased over the past few years. Currently, national unemployment is at a four-year low, at 7.4% - down from 10% in 2009 - and even lower than 5% in...
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Health Insurance Exchange and Medicaid Eligibility, by U.S. County
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released a Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) report using data from 2011. The report outlines the uninsured population trends in the United States, how they...
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How to Pair HRAs with Health Insurance Subsidies for Cost Savings
Many small employers are combining Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), individual health insurance, and the new health insurance subsidies to create affordable health benefits that employees...
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State by State Guide to Health Insurance Exchange Rates
As October 1, 2013 gets closer and closer, state Health Insurance Exchanges are gearing up for the implementation of their marketplaces. This article provides links to each state’s Health Exchange...
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Q&A: How the Health Insurance Exchanges Work
October 1, 2013 marks one of the Affordable Care Act's major milestones: the opening of the health insurance exchanges in each state. The health insurance exchanges (also called "marketplaces") create...
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Nevada Health Insurance Exchange Update – Approved Health Plan Rates
Nevada recently released approved health insurance premium rates that will be offered through its online health insurance marketplace starting January 1, 2014. Open enrollment begins October 1, 2013....
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8 Tips for Health Insurance Brokers on Effectively Prospecting SMBs
Recently, we wrote about four characteristics of how small businesses buy health benefits and how small and medium businesses (SMBs) have significant buying power in the health insurance industry. So,...
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Building Relationships with SMBs - 8 Best Practices for Health Insurance Agents
Recently, we've been writing about successfully selling health benefits and defined contribution to small and medium businesses, and BTB strategies for health insurance agents. To summarize, small and...
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FAQ: Which Individual Health Insurance Plan Should I Choose?
ObamaCare introduces four new health reforms that encourage more people than ever to purchase their own health insurance, without involvement from an employer. This type of insurance is called...
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