E.D. Bellis Exclusive Webinar

In less than two months the new exchanges are opening. Meanwhile uncertainty still continues to challenge small businesses. Are you prepared? If you answered no then join team E.D. Bellis for an exclusive webinar featuring the latest on healthcare reform and what your business should be doing right now to achieve a smooth transition into 2014.

Get more information Register Now! I can't make it

Issues we will cover... What the delay really mean Timeline for business Timeline for individuals The Official Employer Report Ten mistakes businesses are making Your "First Look" at The Marketplace  Questions you should be asking your broker Private Marketplace Option A message from our speaker. As Americans there are many important decisions facing us as an economy. I encourage you to inform yourself and stay engaged because decisions being made at federal and state governments  will directly affect your family, our community and our wallets. -Sean McGuire America's Healthcare Challenge is broadcast from Omaha on 1290 KOIL and can be heard at 9:00 AM CST every Saturday morning.  It can also be streamed on www.mighty1290koil.com  or the Mighty 1290 KOIL app as well as anytime on podcast through SoundCloud.  Stream the last episode here.

Health Insurance Premiums in "The Marketplace"

The chart below shows individual premiums for health insurance in the "Marketplace" aka "Exchange" for 2014. As long as your Household Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is less than 400% of federal poverty level your premium will be based on a set percentage of your income.

Stay tuned for more because premium cost is only the first consideration...

Nebraska Improves to 15th in Overall Health Rankings

OVERALL RANKING:

Nebraska is 15th this year
It was 18th in 2011

• 9 Outcomes Rank
• 17 Determinants Rank
• 15 Overall Rank
• 11 Diabetes Rank
• 19 Smoking Rank
• 30 Obesity Rank

For more information visit: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/

Strengths:

• High rate of high school graduation
• Few poor mental & physical health days per month
• High immunization coverage
   

Challenges:

• High prevalence of binge drinking
• High incidence of infectious disease
• High occupational fatalities rate

Highlights:

• In Nebraska, more than 390,000 adults are obese and more than 360,000 adults live a sedentary lifestyle.
• In the past five years, the high school graduation rate decreased from 87.6 percent to 82.9 percent of incoming ninth graders who graduate within 4 years.
• Although Nebraska has a high incidence of infectious disease, the rate decreased in the last year from 14.1 to 11.4 cases per 100,000 population.
• In the past 10 years, the rate of uninsured population increased from 8.5 percent to 12.8 percent.
• In the past 5 years, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 73.3 to 65.4 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• In the past year, the infant mortality rate decreased from 6.1 to 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.  In 2002 the rate was 7.1 deaths.

Health Disparities:
In Nebraska, sedentary lifestyle is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 40.8 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 23.2 percent; obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 39.6 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 27.0 percent; and smoking is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 22.6 percent than Hispanics at 16.5 percent and non-Hispanic whites at 16.3 percent.

Introducing “Health Insurance Navigator”

Are you traversing the murky waters of the health insurance industry trying to find affordable coverage for your family or business? Do you need someone qualified to chart your course through Healthcare Reform? Well you have come to the right place. I plan on using this blog as the repository of my knowledge as I guide my clients and friends through this pivotal transition in how we qualify for, access, and hopefully afford the medical care we need.

To start off let me give you some of the best resources I have found on the web:

http://healthreformexplained.com/ahc/

http://healthreform.kff.org/

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Affordable-Care-Act-Tax-Provisions

http://answers.hhs.gov/categories/241

http://www.healthcare.gov/

http://garveybenefits.com/

Much more to come, stay tuned!

Brian Munderloh

Healthcare Reform Analysis