■ First, a word on "strategery:" Got snail-mail from United Health One (UHC's individual medical outlet), alerting folks that plans "with an effective date up through December 31, 2013 ... can feel secure knowing that their plan/benefits will stay the same until the end of 2014."
The carrier is pretty insistent that plans with 2013 effective dates will see their benefits remain the same until the end of next year. Note, though, that they don't make the same promise about rates.
I have a problem with this: as we noted in April, there's simply no way to know what Ms Shecantbeserious will do with in-force plans.
■ Along similar lines, FoIB Beth D alerts us that at least one carrier (UHC, perhaps not coincidentally) is offering a special, one-time deal to existing client groups to "avoid the effects of adjusted community rating until 12/01/2014"
She helpfully sends along an "Attestation Form" that the group would complete and submit in the next week or so requesting that their effective (renewal) date be changed to December 1rst.
I expect to see similar efforts from other carriers shortly.
■ Finally, The Wall Street Journal finally figures out what we've been saying all along:
"But Chris Angelo, a second-generation owner ... doesn't expect a groundswell of enrollments next year from lower-wage workers ... They'd rather have the cash than pay the employee portion of the premium."
Hunh.
This has ripple effects, of course:
"[E]mployers may struggle to figure out how many of their low-wage workers will opt in for employer coverage in 2014. By the same token, it suggests that many low-wage workers could remain uninsured next year, despite the law's subsidies and penalties."
Where's my free insurance?
The carrier is pretty insistent that plans with 2013 effective dates will see their benefits remain the same until the end of next year. Note, though, that they don't make the same promise about rates.
I have a problem with this: as we noted in April, there's simply no way to know what Ms Shecantbeserious will do with in-force plans.
■ Along similar lines, FoIB Beth D alerts us that at least one carrier (UHC, perhaps not coincidentally) is offering a special, one-time deal to existing client groups to "avoid the effects of adjusted community rating until 12/01/2014"
She helpfully sends along an "Attestation Form" that the group would complete and submit in the next week or so requesting that their effective (renewal) date be changed to December 1rst.
I expect to see similar efforts from other carriers shortly.
■ Finally, The Wall Street Journal finally figures out what we've been saying all along:
"But Chris Angelo, a second-generation owner ... doesn't expect a groundswell of enrollments next year from lower-wage workers ... They'd rather have the cash than pay the employee portion of the premium."
Hunh.
This has ripple effects, of course:
"[E]mployers may struggle to figure out how many of their low-wage workers will opt in for employer coverage in 2014. By the same token, it suggests that many low-wage workers could remain uninsured next year, despite the law's subsidies and penalties."
Where's my free insurance?
