Tag: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Jan
19
2018

Drug Costs Starting to Drive Group Plan Inflation

by CoreMark Insurance Services | posted in Blog, Newsletter

Under the Affordable Care Act, group health insurance costs have been rising at a much slower rate than they had during the decade preceding its passage. In fact, the rate of annual premium growth in the group market has hovered around 5% – more than half of what it was between 2001 and 2010. Also, health care’s share of the national economy actually fell from 17.4% in 2010 to 17.2% by 2013. However, that trend hasn’t lasted and in 2016 the share was 17.9%. There has been a lot of debate about why rates have been increasing and some pundits…
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Sep
03
2017

CMS Issues New Medicare Cards for 2018

by CoreMark Insurance Services | posted in Blog

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has started issuing new Medicare cards, which it will mail out. Because identity theft has been on the rise, the new cards will no longer include your Social Security number. This should reduce the chances of someone stealing your identity should you lose your wallet and all of its contents. Identity theft has affected retirees disproportionately, which is a growing problem. In 2014, 2.6 million individuals aged 65 and over were identity theft victims, compared with 2.2 million the year prior. The following are all the details you’ll need, thanks to the American…
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Jul
21
2017

Trump Administration Writing Regs to Loosen Rules on Health Plan Tax Credits for Small Employers

by CoreMark Insurance Services | posted in Blog

The Trump administration is crafting regulations that will allow small employers to bypass government-run exchanges to purchase coverage and still be eligible for a tax subsidy. Part of the Affordable Care Act provides for small employers to be eligible for a tax credit if they purchase health insurance for their workers on federally operated exchanges for small businesses. However, the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit is only available to employers that bought coverage on the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), leaving those who bought plans on the private market out of luck. Now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid…
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