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California Small Group Health Insurance

Stay current with the latest updates and news on small group health insurance in California from a variety of insurance providers and carriers.

2019 Jul 26

Update: UnitedHealth Care Postpones Rollout of New Association Health Plans in California

By |July 26th, 2019 |Categories: ACA, Association Health Plans, Covered California, Small Business Articles, Small Group Health Insurance|

Less than two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post that predicted that fireworks would hit California’s small group health insurance market with UHC’s new Association Health Plans.   Well,  sparks flew.  Yesterday, UnitedHealth Care announced that because of “regulatory inquiries over the past couple of weeks” UHC has suspended the [...]

2019 Jul 08

Fireworks Will Hit California’s Small Group Health Insurance Market with UHC’s New Association Plans

By |July 8th, 2019 |Categories: ACA, Association Health Plans, Small Group Health Insurance, Trends|

  UnitedHealth Care (UHC) kicked-off Summer 2019 with a bang.  During a webinar to their top brokers on July 1st, they made the game-changing announcement that they will introduce 9 new Association Health Plans (AHP) into the California small group marketplace (1-100 employees.)By screening enrollees for pre-existing medical conditions and [...]

2019 Apr 12

Why Kaiser Permanente Small Group Benefits and Rates Continue to Lead the Field in California, 2019

By |April 12th, 2019 |Categories: Large Group Medical Insurance Articles, ACA, Health Care Costs, Health Insurance Reform, Small Business Articles, Small Group Health Insurance|

On Wednesday, I was fortunate to be included in a round table discussion with the senior leadership of Kaiser Permanente's small group sales and account management team. To encourage discussion, Kaiser limited participation to a few key brokers. (2019 Kaiser Key Broker Engagement Luncheon, Pasadena, California. Third from [...]

2019 Mar 25

Group Health Insurance Cost Trends and Benchmark Comparisons

By |March 25th, 2019 |Categories: Small Business Articles, Benchmarking, Health Care Costs, Large Group Medical Insurance Articles, Small Group Health Insurance, Trends|

Many employers want to know why medical insurance rates continue to rise and whether they're paying too much compared to other businesses. Two recently released reports address these questions: Medical Cost Trend: Behind the numbers 2019, is prepared by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC)'s Health Research Institute and it projects [...]

2016 Oct 07

Can an employer contribute different amounts towards employee medical insurance?

By |October 7th, 2016 |Categories: ACA, Large Group Medical Insurance Articles, Small Group Health Insurance|

NOTE: The answer to this question requires compliance with both the HIPAA Nondiscrimination Requirements and the IRS Section 125 Nondiscrimination Rules.  IRS Nondiscrimination Rules apply when employees make pre-tax paycheck contributions for employee benefits using a Section 125 Premium Only Plan (POP). If you are a client of Benefits [...]

2016 Oct 05

California Small Business Medical Insurance 2016 4th Qtr. Renewals

By |October 5th, 2016 |Categories: Small Group Health Insurance, Changes in Medical Care, Health Insurance Reform, Small Business Articles|

Experts estimate that 50 to 70 percent of the small businesses in California that offer employee medical insurance will renew their plans in December 2016.  Many California small business medical insurance companies have begun to release their renewal rates for December 2016 and for many employers the renewal rates look [...]

2012 Aug 30

Blue Shield of CA to give Small Groups 18% Refund September 2012

By |August 30th, 2012 |Categories: Small Group Health Insurance, Small Business Medical Insurance|

Blue Cross of California has announced that they will issue all of their small group clients (i.e., employers with 2-50 employees) a one-time credit of 18% of the monthly health insurance premium. The credit will be based on active enrollment in the Blue Shield plan on July 31, 2012 and it will apply to the September 2012 bill. Click for more details and resources about the Blue Shield credit.

2009 Jul 19

Health Net Elect Open Access HMO is a Good Buy in Los Angeles

By |July 19th, 2009 |Categories: Small Group Health Insurance|Tags: , , |

In the California small group health insurance market Health Net's HMO plans are always well priced. Effective August 1, 2009 for groups located in Los Angeles their Elect Open Access HMO plan will be 5 percent less expensive than the Health Net Standard Option HMO. The Standard and the [...]

2009 Jun 11

Significant Anthem Blue Cross California Small Group Changes Effective July 1, 2009

By |June 11th, 2009 |Categories: Small Group Health Insurance, Small Business Medical Insurance|

Anthem Blue Cross of California announced that they will be making major changes to their small group health insurance plans effective July 1, 2009. Specifically, they will be adding 14 new plans. Beginning January 1, 2010, Anthem Blue Cross will discontinue 9 plans. Anthem calls their entire portfolio of [...]

2009 May 31

Federal Health Insurance Reform Likely to Increase the Cost in California

By |May 31st, 2009 |Categories: Small Business Articles, Small Group Health Insurance|

Tomorrow, June 1, 2009, Senator Kennedy is supposed to release the report of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee's recommendations for comprehensive reform of the health care & health insurance system. Word has it that the Obama administration wants to pass health insurance reform legislation in [...]

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