Blue Shield Of California | Lee Health Insurance Services

Reminder: Anthem Blue Cross Cancellation of IFP Plans in Certain CA Counties

November 7, 2017 By Phil Lee

Reminder: Anthem Blue Cross Cancellation of IFP Plans in Certain CA Counties

(Note: This information concerns those who are on Individual & Family health plans. It does not concern you if you are on Medicare or an Employer or Employee on a Group-sponsored or Government-sponsored health plan. This information pertains only to California and does not apply to other states.)

This is a reminder that if you are currently on an Anthem Blue Cross Individual or Family (IFP) health plan (not Medicare or Group plan), and you received a notice from Anthem that your health plan will not be renewed on Jan. 1, then you need to take action by Dec. 15.

On Jan. 1, Anthem will be withdrawing IFP plans from all regions in California EXCEPT for 3. Those 3 regions and the affected counties are listed below. These include 22 sparsely populated counties in N. Calif., Santa Clara county and 5 counties in the Central Valley.

The IFP plans that are affected include plans within the Covered CA Exchange (On-Exchange), as well as plans outside the Covered CA Exchange (Off-Exchange). They include Subsidized plans as well as Non-Subsidized health plans. Those who are on Grandfathered IFP plans are not affected.

If you need help securing a plan from an alternate insurance carrier such as Blue Shield, Health Net or Kaiser, please contact me at [email protected] or call 925-284-2000 Ext. 101.

Anthem Blue Cross IFP Plans will be discontinued on Jan. 1 from all CA Counties EXCEPT the following:

Northern California: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calavaras, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Humbolt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Toulumne, Trinity, Yuba.
Santa Clara
Central Valley: Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare.

Sincerely,

Phil Lee Lee Health Insurance Services

925-284-2000 Ext. 101

[email protected]

https://health-insurance.com

www.linkedIn.com/in/philwlee

Employee Benefits & Health Insurance

Filed Under: Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Covered California, Health Insurance, Individual/Family Plans Tagged With: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Anthem, Anthem Blue Cross, APTC Advanced Premium Tax Credit, Blue Shield, California Health Exchange, California Health Insurance, Covered California, Covered California Health Exchange, coveredca.com, Family Health Insurance, Family Health Plans, Health Care Plans, Health Insurance California, Health Insurance Marketplace, Health Plans California, Individual Health Insurance, tax subsidy

Reminder: Annual Open Enrollment Period

November 7, 2017 By Phil Lee

(This information concerns those who are on Individual & Family health plans, and Medicare health plans. It does not concern you if you are an Employer or Employee on a Group-sponsored or Government-sponsored health plan. This information pertains only to California and may or may not apply to other states.)

This is a reminder that we are in Open Enrollment season for several lines of health insurance plans.

(A) For Those Under Age 65 on Individual & Family Plans
• Annual Open Enrollment period (AEP) this year runs from Nov. 1 through Jan. 31.
• You may enroll into or change Covered CA On-Exchange (with subsidy) as well as Off-Exchange (no subsidy) plans.
• Competitive Rate Comparison Proposals for On Exchange as well as Off Exchange plans are now available for Jan. 1, 2018. Please let us know if you would like one prepared for you.
• On Jan. 1, Anthem Blue Cross will be terminating their Individual plans in most counties in California except for some in rural Northern California.
• If you received a cancellation notice from Anthem Blue Cross, please contact us for a proposal to show you alternative plans from Blue Shield, Health Net, Kaiser, etc.
• If you received a large rate increase, ask us for a proposal showing alternatives.

(B) For Those Seniors Over Age 65 on Medicare
• For those on Supplement plans, there is NO Open Enrollment Period. Your supplement plans do not require renewal and continue uninterrupted until you cancel it.
• For those on Supplement Plan F, CMS (Center for Medicare Medicaid Services) will prohibit new sales after Jan. 2020. But those who are already on Plan F at that time will be grandfathered indefinitely.
• For those wishing to switch from a Medicare Advantage HMO plan to a Supplement Plan, there is no Open Enrollment and no Guarantee-Issue (GI) unless you have a Qualifying Event (QE), such as a move from out of state. You will wish to review the 13 Guarantee-Issue (GI) situations in CA that you may possibly qualify for. Even if you don’t qualify, there is no penalty for applying and going through the non-GI underwriting (approval) process. Chances are good that you may still qualify based on your health. The process for this type of transition is tricky and the timing very tight. If you think you may want to do this, start this process early to give yourself enough time to receive approval. We recommend that you seek professional assistance from an experienced agent knowledgeable in this area.

(The above is meant to be informational. This information has not been approved by CMS or any regulatory agency. This is not sales material and should not be relied upon to make purchase decisions. We recommend that you consult a knowledgeable insurance agent before making any decisions.)

Phil Lee
Lee Health Insurance Services 925-284-2000
www.linkedIn.com/in/philwlee
www.Health-Insurance.com
[email protected]
Employee Benefits & Health Insurance

Filed Under: Affordable Care Act, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Covered California, Health Insurance, Individual/Family Plans, Medicare Plans, Uncategorized Tagged With: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Anthem, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, California Health Exchange, California Health Insurance, Covered California, Covered California Health Exchange, coveredca.com, Family Health Insurance, Family Health Plans, guarantee-issue, Health Care Plans, health insurance, Health Insurance California, Individual Health Insurance, Individual Health Plans, Individual Subsidy, Kaiser, Medicare Advantage., Medicare Supplement Plan F, Obamacare, Off Exchange, On Exchange, open enrollment, Patient Protection and Affordability Act, Qualifying Event, tax subsidy

Covered California – Urgent Last Minute Alert

December 20, 2016 By Phil Lee

(This information concerns those who enrolled into Individual and Family Health Plans through the Government Exchange – Covered California – and received a Subsidy or APTC. It does NOT concern you if you are either on an Employer-Sponsored Group Health Plan or a Medicare Health Plan. This information pertains only to California and may not apply to other states.)

As a courtesy, we are passing this information onto you.

December 19, 2016

Consumer Outreach for Consent for Verification

Yesterday, Covered California sent an email to consumers that are at risk of losing their Advanced Premium Tax Credit (APTC) and/or cost-sharing reductions for their 2017 health insurance coverage. Consumers need to ensure that they have provided their Consent for Verification as this allows Covered California to electronically verify their eligibility for tax credits.

The following two fields are provided to help identify those consumers who need to provide consent.

Years of Consent – provides the number of years the consumer provided consent to using their information for verification purposes.

Date of Consent- provides the date the consent was provided by the consumer to use their information for verification purposes.

Without taking action now, consumers who have not updated their consent will lose their premium assistance including federal tax credit and/or cost-sharing reductions (lower copayments, coinsurance and deductibles). Read our Consent for Verification Quick Guide for additional information.

LAST DAY to Enroll for January 1 Coverage

Consumers only have until midnight tonight, December 19, 2016 to enroll in a health plan for coverage beginning January 1, 2017. Plans selected after this time may have a February 1 or March 1, 2017 coverage start date.

Covered California Service Centers

Consumers that need last minute application support can contact the Covered California Consumer Service Center for the Individual Marketplace at 800-300-1506, which will be open tonight until midnight.

Upcoming Outage

Sunday, January 22 from 8:00 p.m. to Monday, January 23, 2016 at 6:00 a.m.

Phil Lee
Lee Health Insurance Services, BLIS Corporation
800-286-7445
www.linkedIn.com/in/philwlee
www.Health-Insurance.com
[email protected]
Employee Benefits & Health Insurance

Filed Under: Affordable Care Act, Blue Shield of California, Covered California, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Individual/Family Plans Tagged With: Advance Premium Tax Credit, Affordable Care Act, Anthem Blue Cross, APTC, Blue Shield, California Health Exchange, California Health Insurance, Covered California, Covered California Health Exchange, coveredca.com, Family Health Insurance, Family Health Plans, HBEX, Health Care Plans, Health Care Reform, Health Care Reform Act, Health care subsidy, health insurance, Health Insurance California, Health Insurance Marketplace, Health Plans California, health subsidy calculator, Individual Health Insurance, Individual Subsidy, Obamacare, Patient Protection and Affordability Act, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, tax subsidy

Blue Shield of California Plans to Shut Down for 1 Week in September to Save on Payroll Due to Obamacare Losses

August 14, 2016 By Phil Lee

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2016/08/11/exclusive-losses-blue-shield-california.html

As reported by the San Francisco Business Journal, Blue Shield of California will be closed from September 3 to September 12 while its employees take the week of Labor Day off. Although Blue Shield announced there will be some customer service staff working that week we assume the phone lines will be jammed for the entire week.

It appears that Individual, Small Group and Medicare departments are affected by the shutdown.
We do not yet know whether the Blue Shield member portal, broker portal or employer portal will be accessible and will reflect current information during the shutdown.
ALL APPLICATIONS FOR BLUE SHIELD PLANS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THEY CAN BE PROCESSED WITH AN ID NUMBER ISSUED BY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2. APPLICATIONS ARE CURRENTLY TAKING 10-14 DAYS TO BE PROCESSED.
This is an unprecedented announcement by an insurance company. We will do our best to provide service to our clients during this shutdown, but if Blue Shield is closed our ability to provide customer service will also be severely impacted.

(NOTE: This information relates only to Blue Shield of California, a taxpaying non-profit insurance carrier that operates only in California. Please do not confuse this company with Anthem Blue Cross, or any other Blue Cross or Blue Shield organization in states outside of CA.)

Phil Lee

Lee Health Insurance Services (BLIS Corporation)

www.health-insurance.com

925-284-2000

Filed Under: Affordable Care Act, Blue Shield of California, Group Plans, Health Insurance, Individual/Family Plans, Medicare Plans Tagged With: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Blue Shield, Blue Shield of California, California Health Insurance, Family Health Insurance, Family Health Plans, Group Health Insurance, Group Health Plans, Health Care Plans, Health Care Reform, Health Care Reform Act, Individual Health Insurance, Individual Health Plans, Obamacare, Obamacare Losses, Patient Protection and Affordability Act, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Reminder: Anthem Blue Cross Cancellation of IFP Plans in Certain CA Counties

Reminder: Annual Open Enrollment Period

Covered California – Urgent Last Minute Alert

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