2019 Rates for Covered CA

Good News for our Under 65 clients. We expect most plans to stay in the market for next year, with somewhat reasonable rate increases. right now, we know the state average will be about 8% increase, we are waiting on the Riverside county rates which will be released...

Need Help With Your Groceries

It is only Spring, but insurers are already making big changes to their Medicare plans for next year. Medicare has allowed insurers to offer new benefits in 2019 that are health-related. Some of these benefits will likely be, grocery shopping, home delivery of...

Underwritten Versus Guaranteed

Insurers are very cautious about taking on risk. They only issue policies where they believe there is a reasonable chance of collecting more in premium than they will pay out in benefit. For health insurance such as Medicare supplements, the insurer will determine the...

Are you Still on an F Plan?

Insurance is all about risk. Risk transference means paying someone else (an insurer) to bear the risk of property or monetary loss. The more risk you transfer to an insurer, the more they will charge you. Take the Medicare Supplement F plan for example. Many consider...

Tax Returns and Medicare

Have you heard of IRMAA and how it may affect your Medicare Premiums? Even if you are not in Medicare yet, it is important to plan ahead for IRMAA with your tax preparer. A few years ago, Congress made some changes to how Medicare premiums are calculated. The goal was...

New Medicare Cards

CMS will soon begin mailing out new Medicare cards to all beneficiaries that contain NEW Medicare Beneficiary Identification (MBI) numbers. The new Medicare identification numbers will no longer contain Social Security Numbers and are intended to help protect...

Covered CA tax reports are in your mailbox

Covered CA has sent out the 1095 tax forms for your 2018 coverage. These forms are very important for your tax return! It shows that you had health insurance, how much you paid for premiums, and how much tax credit you received each month. Your tax preparer needs this...

Get to know Your New Health Plan

Many of us changed health insurance plans this year. Whether you renewed existing coverage or changed to a new plan, you probably received a big packet of coverage information. Before you throw it out, here is what you need to know. Some of the plans sent out a “quick...

What is an OEP?

Open Enrollment Period, is a very vague description and name for another Medicare change period. In 2019, Medicare beneficiaries who are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan have until March 31 to make a plan change. This differs from the Annual Enrollment...