While most people visit their doctor to address existing health problems, preventive health offers routine care to maintain health and prevent issues from occurring. Preventive care varies for each individual, but it can involve screenings, counseling, check-ups, and vaccines. It’s important to note that most health plans will cover the …
July is Healthy Vision Month, a time to spread awareness and advocate for healthy vision. Eye health directly impacts your performance and safety at home and in the workplace. Vision insurance is one of the more popular voluntary benefits offered by employers. Preventative health, through routine eye exams, is an …
A medical condition that reduces an employee’s ability to perform their work duties, usually due to an illness or injury, is considered a disability. Statistically, one in three employees will miss more than one month of pay as a result of an injury or illness. Without disability coverage, employees stand …
Pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens are no longer limiting customers on the maximum number of rapid over-the-counter (OTC) COVID-19 tests that may be purchased at one time. Previously, CVS only allowed six tests to be purchased at once and at Walgreens, only four. Due to an increase in supply, these …
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 was signed into law in December of 2020. It included the No Surprises Act, which bans surprise medical bills. What is “Surprise Medical Bills”? When patients receive care unexpectedly from out-of-network health care providers, they can get hit with surprise medical bills. This can happen …
Annually, Medicare Part D requires group health plan sponsors to disclose to those eligible for Medicare Part D and to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) whether the health plan’s prescription drug coverage is creditable. The start date of the annual enrollment period for Medicare Part D is …
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) imposes a fee on health insurance issuers and plan sponsors of self-insured health plans to help fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The PCORI fee is calculated based on the average number of lives covered under a policy or plan and is paid annually …
As in-person appointments have been replaced with video conferences and other virtual mediums, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) has launched Right2You, a virtual care benefit that aims to assist the approximate 48 million people in the U.S. living with hearing loss. The initiative builds on the home-delivered hearing healthcare model developed by UnitedHealthcare …
On March 23, 2021, President Joe Biden and his administration reported that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is extending the Special Enrollment Period (SEP) — which was originally available through May 15, 2021 —for an additional three months, allowing eligible individuals to enroll in …
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law March 11, 2021, provides a 100% subsidy of applicable COBRA premiums for eligible beneficiaries and their dependents, for the time period beginning April 1, 2021 and ending no later than September 30, 2021. Who is Eligible? An Assistance Eligible Individual (AEI) …
The $1.9 trillion relief bill, known as the American Rescue Plan, was signed by President Biden on Thursday, March 11, 2021. Additional information surrounding Emergency Paid Leave and Health Insurance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is included in the bill and outlined below. Emergency Paid LeaveSigned into law on …
On April 28, 2020, the Departments of Labor (DOL) and the Treasury issued deadline relief to help employee benefit plans, plan participants and plan service providers impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Thereafter, on February 26, 2021, DOL Disaster Relief Notice 2021-01 clarified the duration of this relief. The deadlines were …
The Biden administration has told the Supreme Court to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a letter to the Supreme Court, Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler clarified that the current U.S. Department of Justice views the ACA as constitutional. “Following the change in administration, the Department of Justice …
Since 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has continuously extended a transition policy for certain health plans that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). On January 19, 2021, the HHS continued this tradition by extending an existing transition policy for certain health plans that …
On December 12, 2020, an independent panel of scientific advisors — the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — approved recommended use of Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 16 years of age and older. A day later, Pfizer began shipping …
