UnitedHealthcare Announces 2023 ACA Bonus Program

, , ,

UnitedHealthcare has announced their 2023 ACA new member and retention bonus program.  This bonus will apply to all new sales and renewals of UnitedHealthcare Individual and Family Exchange plans that are effective in 2023.  Take a look at how much you can earn!

Program details:
  • Bonus Program applies to sales of UnitedHealthcare Individual and Family Plans in AL, AZ, CO, FL, GA, IL, KS, LA, MD, MI, MO, MS, NC, OH, OK, TN, TX, VA, WA with Jan. 1, 2023, through Dec. 1, 2023, effective dates
  • Retention Program applies to membership enrolled in a UnitedHealthcare Individual and Family Plan in AL, AZ, CO, FL, GA, IL, LA, MD, MI, NC, OK, TN, TX, VA, WA as of Dec. 31, 2022, who remain enrolled through March 1, 2023
  • All payment amounts listed above are a one-time bonus payment per effectuated member in the program year
  • All Bonus Program payments will be calculated each quarter by the total number of UnitedHealthcare Individual and Family Plan effectuated members within each state. New business qualification levels will reset at the end of each quarter
  • Retention Program payments will be made no later than March 31, 2023
  • For effectuated members with applications received on or before March 31, 2023, Bonus Program Payments will be made no later than June 29, 2023 (Q1 payment)
  • For effectuated members with applications received between April 1, 2023, and before June 30, 2023, Bonus Program Payments will be made no later than Sept. 28, 2023 (Q2 payment)
  • For effectuated members with applications received between July 1, 2023, and before Sept. 30, 2023, Bonus Program Payments will be made no later than Dec. 29, 2023 (Q3 payment)
  • For effectuated members with applications received between Oct. 1, 2023, and before Dec. 31, 2023, Bonus Program Payments will be made no later than March 29, 2024 (Q4 payment)
  • There is no cap on the Bonus Program or Retention Program
  • All eligible UnitedHealthcare Individual and Family Plans must be in force for a minimum of 3 months from the effective date to count as “issued.” Coverage must be in force with premium payment current at the time of contest payout to be included. If coverage is terminated for any reason prior to 3 months, the broker will be charged back for any difference if it alters the bonus amount paid
  • Applies to both On- and Off-Exchange business
  • If a broker assigns commissions to an agency, the bonus payment will be paid to the agency rather than the individual broker following our standard commission payout practices
  • Broker must meet all compliance requirements and be appointed by the applicable UnitedHealthcare carrier in the state of this program

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

IRS makes ruling on the “Family Glitch”

,

 

On October 11, 2022, the Internal Revenue Services made a final ruling regarding health insurance for families regarding the “Family Glitch”. The IRS ruled that starting in 2023, affordability of insurance for family members by an employee-sponsored plan will be determined by the family’s premium, rather than the employee’s coverage cost. 

What is the “Family Glitch”.

The “Family Glitch” refers to a section of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that would not allow families to utilize premium tax credits and cost sharing subsidies to help lower their insurance premiums.  Currently, spouses and/or children that are on an employer sponsored health plan do not qualify for subsidies on the health insurance marketplace if that coverage is deemed affordable for the employee, regardless of the cost of coverage for the spouse and/or dependents.  Many of these families would have qualified for premium tax credits and cost sharing reductions based on the family’s household income.

Within the original context of the ACA, if a family’s employer-sponsored health insurance coverage was deemed affordable for the employee, then the entire family would not be eligible for marketplace subsidies.  In 2023, “affordable” coverage will be less than 9.12% of the family’s household income.

President Biden has worked to move that number back to the original threshold of 8.5% through the Build Back Better Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, but that legislation has stalled.  The new ruling by the IRS will provide many families relief, even if it does not hit the 8.5% mark.  The President released a statement regarding the fix to the “family glitch” and how this fix will expand access to coverage to millions of Americans.

How many will this Affect?

Recently, the KFF ran an analysis that estimates that about 5.1 million individuals were affected by the “Family Glitch” and many low to middle income families will now have access to more affordable health insurance.  The IRS estimates that somewhere between 600,000 and 2.3 million individuals that are impacted by this change will enroll in marketplace coverage.  These changes take place for ACA plans that go into place starting January 1st, 2023.

Stay up to date on all things Agility! 

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

Cigna announces new 2023 ACA Broker Bonus Schedule

, ,

Cigna just released a new Broker Bonus Schedule. You will be eligible for this new plan if you are contracted with Cigna and eligible for these broker bonuses.
The program rules are as follows:
  • Bonus is based on new sales submitted during Open Enrollment, 11/1/2022–1/15/2023; customers with a 1/1/2023
    effective date must make initial payment prior to 1/31/2023 and customers with a 2/1/2023 effective date must
    make initial payment prior to 2/28/2023 qualify. 
  • Bonus program is based on number of members submitted. Enrollments on each of the two bonus programs
    will be aggregated separately. Member counts will be capped at six members per policy. 
  • 2023 Open Enrollment policies must be in effect and paid for a minimum of three months in order to be paid
    the one-time bonus payment: 3/31/2023 for 1/1/2023 effectives and 4/29/2023 for 2/1/2023 effectives. 
  • Eligible products include all IFP medical products in AZ, CO, FL, GA, IN, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX and VA. 
  • Cigna will offset any overpayment against other compensation due and payable to producer.

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

Aetna CVS Health Announces 2023 ACA Bonus Program!

,

Aetna CVS Health just announced their 2023 ACA Bonus program for Individual and Family plans! Earn up to an extra $75 per new member you enroll.

Plus, jumpstart your earnings! Earn an extra $50 per enrolled member in a Silver plan and $5 per member in a Gold or Bronze plan.

To see more on the jumpstart program and bonus eligibility guidelines, review the full details here.

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

Aetna announces 2023 ACA commission

, ,

 

Aetna just announced the ACA broker commission schedule for 2023. This commission schedule applies to the Aetna CVS Health Family of companies.

This schedule also only applies only to new sales that transact on or after January 1, 2023. 

Add your Aetna CVS contracting today!

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

Friday Health Plans Announcement

,

 

Friday Health Plans announced the decision to not offer services found in the Texas Health Insurance Exchange for 2023. 

With open enrollment rapidly approaching, start planning to enroll all of your Friday Health members into alternate plans for 2023 health coverage. 

Friday Health Plans added to their statement that they do intend to eventually offer on-exchange health plans for Texas in 2024.

Friday does plan to continue to offer services for both the on and off exchange markets in Colorado, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Oklahoma in 2023.

Reach out to Friday broker support if you have any questions regarding this change. 

Don’t forget to check out all ACA contracting available to you.

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

Announcements regarding star ratings for Medicare plans

,

Medicare Part D Star Ratings have been released for 2023 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

57 of the plans earned 5 stars, but this shows a huge drop since last year, which was 74 five stars plans. 

This year, 67 contracts earned 4.5 stars, but this is lower than last year by 96!

136 of these contracts earned 4 stars, whereas last year 152 contracts earned four stars.

116 earned 3.5 stars; last year, 122 earned 3.5 stars. 

Finally, only 90 earned three stars, but this is a 25 increase from last year. 

Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and UnitedHealth Group led in earning five stars. 5 of Kaiser’s plans earned five stars, while 9 plans by UnitedHealth Group earned five stars.

Humana and Highmark also boast several plans that earned five stars.

These star ratings are annually announced, used to gauge the experiences of those using these companies to enroll in healthcare insurance. 

Those using Medicare can use this rating system to determine which plan is best, and which plan has the most positive reviews.

Thus, these star ratings are perfect if you are a Medicare insurance agent, as you can refer to this rating system to sell plans effectively to consumers. 

Just keep in mind that CMS did slightly alter the star rating system for 2023. Pandemic guardrails for these plans were removed; these safeguards created a hedge of protection during the height of the COVID-19 outbreak. Now these ratings will affect only 5% of bonus payments that are made to plans.

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

Updates to Cigna Broker Portal

,

Cigna’s Broker Portal received a few updates. New integrations, intuitive navigation, and other capabilities are now at your fingertips. Moreover, multiple Cigna brokers across various business industries can now use an efficient interface for a seamless experience. 

Thank you, Agility Agents, for your continued patience with the Cigna Broker Portal and for sitting tight while the portal improves and updates. If you need support during this update, contact your broker team as listed below:

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

Bright Health Group Plans Changes for 2023

, ,

 

Today, Bright Health Group announced that it will no longer offer Individual and Family Plans through Bright HealthCare, or Medicare Advantage except for in Florida and California, starting in 2023.

However, Bright Health Group will exclusively focus on making healthcare accessible to the elderly and lower-income populations. Bright Health hopes to accomplish this using its Fully Aligned Care Model in select states, such as Florida, Texas, and California.

“We have demonstrated the power of the Fully Aligned Care Model in serving aging and underserved populations and progressed the marketplace towards seeing the promise in value-based care across all populations,” Mike Mikan says, President and CEO of Bright Health Group. “The changes announced today give Bright Health a strong and stable platform for profitable growth at much lower risk. This is one more strategic step to building a differentiated and profitable business at scale.”

Bright Healthcare does intend to serve members affected by this change and meet any obligations for the rest of 2022’s plan period. The company promises to help those affected find a new healthcare plan during open enrollment periods.

Bright HealthCare will not offer Individual and Family health plans in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee after 2022. If you offer ACA plans in any of these states, work with Agility to ensure you have the right contracting in place to protect your business.

Agility currently contracts ACA (individual and family) agents to offer plans with Aetna CVS Health, Ambetter, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, CareSource, CHRISTUS Health, Cigna Health, Friday Health Plans, Medica, Molina Healthcare, Oscar Health, and UnitedHealthcare.


Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by

Southwestern Health Resources UPDATE

 

Southwestern Health Resources announces their plan to remain with BCBSTX Networks.

BCBSTX Networks worked with Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR) to reach an agreement both parties are comfortable with. Moreover, Texas Health Resources (THR) and UT Southwestern (UTSW) services will remain with BCBSTX networks.

Those members who changed their PCPs during the negotiation period and would like to change back to their SWHR PCP can use Blue Access for MembersSM. BCBSTX shares the following steps to change back to SWHR PCP:
  • Register for or log in to Blue Access for Members 
  • Click the Doctors & Hospitals Tab
  • Select option Change Primary Care Physicians
  • Review the doctor listed as your PCP
  • Choose a different PCP if you wish to
  • You can search in-network doctors on Provider Finder® at bcbstx.com

If you have any questions, contact your Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) representative.

Agility Producer Support
(866) 590-9771
support@enrollinsurance.com

/by