Taxing Employer-Funded Health Insurance Would be a Disaster

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Newsweek recently released an article written by Janet Trautwein of NAHU that outlines the intent of legislators and policymakers to end the “employer exclusion,” which exempts employer-sponsored health benefits from income and payroll taxes. The article uncovers the detriment of that decision and its effect on rising healthcare costs and employer-sponsored benefits.

Click here to view the article.

 

Of note, Cornerstone is now part of the NAHU advisory board for Medicare.

Cornerstone & Aetna’s 2018 Product Rollout Meetings | Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo

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Aetna 2018 Medicare Rollout Meetings

Please attend Cornerstone and Aetna’s Medicare 2018 rollout sessions. Take advantage of these in-person meetings to learn the plan benefits of what Aetna is introducing for 2018!

RSVP to ONE of the meetings below.

*please include your name, location, and time of the training you would like to attend*

Click here to RSVP.

Cincinnati — 8/17

10:00 am–12:00 pm

Cornerstone Media Center

2101 Florence Ave. | Cincinnati, OH 45206

 

Columbus — 9/6

10:00 am–12:00 pm

2:00 pm–4:00 pm (as needed for any overflow)

Aetna Columbus Office

7400 W. Campus Rd. | New Albany, OH 43054

 

Dayton — 8/31

1:00 pm– 3:00 pm

The Golf Club at Yankee Trace

10000 Yankee St. | Centerville, OH 45458

 

Toledo — 8/29

Market-Specific Training

10:00 am–12:00 pm

Holiday Inn French Quarter

10630 Fremont Pike | Perrysburg, OH 43551

Options for the Smallest Employers

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Kim Kinnaird | Director, Employee Benefits

Life as an Ohio Health Insurance Agent continues to be interesting, to say the least. What was good advice even a year ago can be completely irrelevant now. Good times.

Employers, in particular, have to be feeling a little whiplash by now especially sole proprietors and the very smallest, fledgling businesses staffed by spouses or close family members.

Many of these businesses purchased individual policies when carriers moved away from one-person “groups.” They no longer allowed two spouses who worked for a business to count as two employees or instances where a parent and child under age 26 worked for the business.

In years past, because of subsidies and carrier reimbursements from the federal government, individual coverage was expected to be more affordable than group coverage in the ACA products. Health underwriters rightly surmised that only people who could not renew with a grandfathered or transitional (aka Grandmothered) plan because of added risk would be looking for group health coverage under ACA and ACA rates rose. That is not necessarily the case moving forward.

In 2018 there will be many counties in Ohio where there are limited carrier choices and still others with no options for individual coverage. So now, brokers need to revisit group coverage options for these very small groups and the participation requirements.

Cornerstone agents will have access to a grid of key questions on the Broker Centric website that answers these critical questions across multiple carriers and their product lines. Contact your Cornerstone representative for questions.

FormFire Quoting for 4th Quarter in Northern Ohio

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The Results Are In!

Cornerstone has confirmed FormFire’s quoting engine accuracy to generate fourth quarter quotes. Here are some reminders:

  • Quotes will be returned in Microsoft Excel format. You’ll only need to add your logo and the current/renewal plans OR you can copy/paste into an existing document.
  • A standard disclaimer is included on the quote. We recommend retaining it on what you share with the customer.
  • Streamlined into a smaller list of plans from Cornerstone’s “Quote Profile.” In our Profile, we pull the most popular and common plan design options from each carrier. Click here for the list of plans in the quote profile (you can always request specific plan options or all plans).
  • Results are 1% or better—see the table below
  • CARRIER
  • Aetna
  • Anthem
  • MMO
  • UHC
  • RESULTS
  • 99.999%
  • 99.999%
  • 99.987%
  • 99.990%

Of course, if you still prefer actual quotes from the carrier, you can request those up front as well.

We also recommend that you have a specific quote generated if you are going to recommend a plan or carrier change. (If you sell the case, we’ll need to run an actual quote as well to submit with sold case paperwork.)

How we validated the results:

  • We pulled quotes for each age band in each rating area covering northern Ohio.
  • We compared actual quotes with the same census files and zip codes as FormFire.
  • We discussed results outside the norm with FormFire who reached out to the carriers to ensure they had matched the quoting methodology as closely as possible. PLEASE NOTE: Methodology is proprietary so exact matches are not possible, but if within 1–2%, FormFire considers the quotes accurate.

Please let us know if you have questions or concerns about this approach to handling your quotes. We believe this will be more efficient for you and your team!

Attached are the contacts for offices in your area:

  • Cleveland (click here)
  • Lima (click here)
  • Toledo (click here)

SilverScript’s First Look at 2018 Plan Benefits

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Silverscript

SilverScript’s 2018 plan benefits are now available! Click below to get a first look at their plan details.

Please include your name, email address, and the state(s) you are requesting.

Not appointed with SilverScript? Contact your Cornerstone representative today to get started!

Reporting Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

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Cornerstone employees and broker partners are required to report suspected Fraud, Waste and Abuse. You can report Fraud, Waste and Abuse to Cornerstone’s Compliance Officer (Danny Bradford) at 513-629-9320 or email dbradford@crnstone.com. Additionally, you can report suspected Fraud, Waste or Abuse anonymously via the following Plan Sponsor hotlines:

Aetna: 1-860-273-3586

MMO: 1-800-762-8130

UnitedHealthcare: 1-877-401-9430

Humana: 1-800-614-4126

Paramount: 1-800-462-3589

Premier: 1-888-271-2688

Anthem: 1-800-203-3738

Cornerstone & Medical Mutual of Ohio’s 2018 MAPD Roadshow Training Sessions

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MMO MAPD 2018 Rollout Roadshow Training Sessions

Join Cornerstone and MMO’s deep dive sessions into their 2018 MAPD products with $0 benefit options that meet the needs of Ohioans in 80 of the 88 counties in Ohio!

See below what else their plans will offer in 2018:

Medical Mutual

  1. HMO plan added and offered in 80 counties!
  2. University Hospital addition to network
  3. Dental & Vision benefits included
  4. MOOP as low as $3,400
  5. Less than $200 Rx deductibles
  6. Generic Rx Copays:
    Tier 1- $5 and below
    Tier 2- $20 and below

RSVP to ONE of the meetings below.

*please include your name and the location of the training you would like to attend*

Click here to RSVP.

September 14, 2017

Cincinnati

9:00 am–11:00 am

Cornerstone Media Center

2101 Florence Ave. | Cincinnati, OH 45206

Dayton

2:00 pm–4:00 pm

The Golf Club at Yankee Trace

10000 Yankee St.

Centerville, OH 45458

 

September 18, 2017

Toledo

9:00 am–11:00 am

Holiday Inn French Quarter

10630 Fremont Pike | Perrysburg, OH 43551

Lima

1:00 pm–3:00 pm

Howard Johnson Inn

1920 Roschman Ave. | Lima, OH 45804

 

September 19, 2017

Columbus

9:00 am–11:00 am

Wedgewood Golf & Country Club

9600 Wedgewood Blvd. | Powell, OH 43065

Cleveland

9:00 am–11:00 am

Holiday Inn

6001 Rockside Rd. | Independence, OH 44131

Youngstown

1:00 pm–3:00 pm

Holiday Inn

7410 South Ave. | Youngstown, OH 44512

INTRODUCING: The Cornerstone Connection Biannual Newsletter

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The Cornerstone Connection is here!

Cornerstone has released a brand-new communication tool that has been created with brokers like you in mind. This biannual, 15-page newsletter plays hosts to features on a number of topics, both industry and Cornerstone related.

Learn about how you can properly prepare for AEP/OEP, read what Cornerstone’s Senior, Employee Benefits, and Individual divisions have been up to this year, and much more.

The newsletter features relevant and timely content, including:

  • Broker Q&A
  • Cornerstone division updates
  • Q&A video with a Cornrestone expert
  • Information about Cornerstone value-added programs (Refer-An-Agent, Punta Cana, etc.)
  • Marketing compliance feature
  • Marketing tips and tricks

Contact us today for an exclusive link to the newsletter! Subscribe to our email list today to receive the Cornerstone Connection straight in your inbox!

OAHU Task Force: 1332 Waiver

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Due to the dramatic changes and limitations in the individual and small group markets, the Ohio Department of Insurance has filed for a 1332 waiver, which asks the federal government for permission to change some of the major elements of the Affordable Care Act that apply to private health insurance coverage. Click here for more information about the waiver and what it could do for the Ohio Market.

OAHU is a stakeholder in these recommendations with ODI. They developed a task force to develop recommendations for consideration, including Cornerstone’s own corporate counsel Danny Bradford:

OAHU Vice Legislative Chair and member of NAHU Legislative Council – Barb Gerken – bgerken@firstinsurancegrp.com

OAHU President Elect John Dodd – john@nubgroup.com

CAHU – Linda FreemanWalker – lfreemanwalker@dehaninsurance.com

GCAHU – Danny Bradford – Dbradford@crnstone.com

NEOAHU – Stan Sieniawski – sasieniawski@insureonebenefits.com

NWOAHU – Karen Irwin – karen@bradfordriskmanagement.com

WRAHU – Connie Gerba – cgerba@gilbertsrisksolutions.com

 

Contact Cornerstone for details.

LIVE EVENT: Toledo 2018 Product Rollout Meetings

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Toledo 2018 Product Rollout Meetings

Don’t miss these informative training sessions with Cornerstone!

Please RSVP to any of the following training sessions.

To RSVP, click here.

(please include your name and the meeting you would like to attend)

 

2018 AETNA Market Specific Training for OH/KY

Tuesday August 29, 2017 | 10:00 am–12:00 pm

Holiday Inn French Quarter

10630 Fremont Pike | Perrysburg, OH 43551

 

HUMANA 2018 MAPD First Look Rollout Meeting

Tuesday August 29, 2017 | 2:00 pm–4:00 pm

The Regus

1715 Indian Wood Circle | Maumee, OH 43537

Limited space is available for this training!

Not appointed with Aetna or Humana? Contact Cornerstone today to get started!

1.800.248.7675