Blue Shield of California will be implementing a new online payment system for their individual and family plan members in 2018. Consumers with off-exchange health plans, those bought directly from Blue Shield and not from Covered California will be transitioned to the new billing system in March … [Read More...]
InsureMeKevin
- How Your Social Security Benefit is CalculatedThe next set of calculations are truly mind bending. The SSA has to bend your AIME into a Primary Insurance Amount (PIA.) The PIA is what you will receive at your Full Retirement Age, 67 if born in 1960 or later. The AIME is bent lower by a series of calculations using Bend Points. The […]
- Social Security, Taxes, and ACA Health Insurance SubsidiesThe main takeaway is that the calculations for the ACA health insurance income estimates are separate from determining the tax on Social Security benefits. Specifically, all the Social Security income is included on the Covered California application as income, but only ½ is used for the combined income calculation of Social Security income taxes. The […]
- Medi-Cal Asset Test Back for 2026The 2026 asset test will be $130,000 and $65,000 for each additional household member. In other words, a single adult with assets over $130,000 will not qualify for Non-MAGI Medi-Cal. A married couple with assets over $195,000 will be ineligible for Non-MAGI Medi-Cal for either individual. The post Medi-Cal Asset Test Back for 2026 appeared […]
- Dr. Oz Injecting Artificial Intelligence into Medicare Health CareUnder the leadership of Dr. Oz, Medicare is rushing to implement Artificial Intelligence (AI) to review, authorize, or deny health care services received by Original Medicare beneficiaries. The primary goal is to save money not necessarily improve patient outcomes. CMS calls the new AI health care initiative “Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model. The […]
- New Trump Rules for Covered CaliforniaThe underlying rational for the new rules is that CMS perceives consumers to be cheating the system. With no evidence presented, CMS believes that consumers are receiving subsidies and health insurance they are not entitled to. They accuse individuals, families, and agents of committing fraud. Again, they present no evidence to support their supposition. The […]