Last month Governor Cuomo signed into law New York’s Paid Family Leave Act,that will require employers to provide paid family leave benefits to eligible employees as part of the state’s disability insurance program.The law exceeds federal FMLA of 50+ employees and will apply to all employees who are covered by the state’s temporary disability insurance law, regardless of their employer’s size, and who have been employed for 26 or more consecutive weeks. In light of this news, New York employers and employers with employees in New York should review their existing family and medical leave policies.
Overview:
Timing: Beginning January 1st, 2018 Paid Family Leave benefits will be phased in over a four-year period. When the law is fully implemented in 2021, employees may be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid family leave.
Funding: Unlike many of these other laws, the NYS Paid Family Leave benefits will be funded by employees’ payroll deductions through a ~$1 per employee weekly payroll deduction that will help fund a paid family leave program. No employer is required to contribute to or fund the paid family leave benefit. NYS will set the maximum employee contribution by June 1, 2017, and it will be updated annually thereafter, on September 1 of each year.
Notice: Employers will be required to post a notice about the law and provide written notice to certain employees.
Eligibility: An employee is eligible for paid family leave benefits if the employee works for a covered employer for 26 or more consecutive weeks. Covered employers include those that have one or more employees employed in New York on each of at least 30 days in any calendar year.
Effective Date
Max. length of paid leave
Payable % of the employee’s average weekly wage
To the max % of NY average weekly wage
01/01/2018
8 weeks
50%
50%
01/01/2019
10 weeks
55%
55%
01/01/2020
10 weeks
60%
60%
01/01/2021
12 weeks
67%
67%
The opposition to the law fear that employers will end up with higher expenses in overtime and training for employees who will cover for their co-workers on leave. Businesses also are rightly concerned about how much control they’ll have over employees taking leave under these state administered programs.
How does this relate to NYS DBL? Paid Family Leave (PFL) will be covered under the employers DBL. DBL and PFL benefits cannot be collected at the same time. Combined, DBL and PFL have to stay within the 26-week benefit max during any 52 consecutive calendar weeks.
I hope that you find this brief overview helpful. To download a copy of the federal law click here – FMLA Employer Guide. For additional details on this law, including a review of existing DBL policies please contact us at 855-667-4621 or email us a policy copy for immediate review.
The article below summarizes in full the Aftermath of Health Republic Shut Down. The original NYS announcement to shut down Nov 30th was released on Friday October 30th. There are countless anecdotal evidence of our client’s Providers not getting paid for work already done this Fall. Brokers , our Agency included, has NOT been paid since this Summer.
Should My Doctor and Broker be paid? That really ought to be the header for this article. At the same time Health Providers and Brokers honored clients despite the Health Republic’s precarious financial status. The approximate amount owed is $150 Million. If the State truly wants to correct this they have a $1Billion surplus. How can the State obligate Providers and Brokers to meet contractual licensing & professional standards and ignore them now?
As reported in Mahopac NY News 12/9/15 by BRETT FREEMAN
Doctors, Insurance Brokers Could Lose Millions After Health Republic’s Collapse
HUDSON VALLEY, N.Y. – When Health Republic Insurance of New York announced early last month that they were ceasing operations at the end of November, individual subscribers and small groups had to scramble for other options to keep themselves and their employees insured.
Doctors and individual insurance brokers weren’t so lucky.
Often overlooked in news reports is how Health Republic’s demise affected thousands of medical providers and individual insurance brokers, who may never see a dime from all that is owed to them.
Health Republic was a not-for-profit health insurance co-op (Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan) established under the Affordable Care Act. According to its website, at its height, it had over 215,000 members, making it the largest new health insurance cooperative in the country.
According to articles linked on Health Republic’s website, it borrowed a $265 million low-interest federal loan to begin its operations and was one of 23 co-ops receiving a total of $2.4 billion. According to reports, about half of them have since failed, with many analyses pointing to the low premiums as the cause of their collapse.
Dr. Scott D. Hayworth, president and CEO of the Mount Kisco Medical Group (MKMG), estimates that his practice, which provides medical care to 500,000 patients in the Hudson Valley (including thousands of patients in Mahopac, Somers, Yorktown and North Salem), has lost millions of dollars due to the collapse of Health Republic.
“It’s more than just the doctors’ fees,” said Hayworth, who oversees 450 physicians in dozens of locations throughout the Hudson Valley. Dr. Hayworth said that insurance reimbursements cover vaccines, chemotherapy and other ambulatory and pharmaceutical products that were paid for out of pocket by MKMG.
Despite its losses, MKMG continued to honor its contract with the insurance carrier to ensure any patients covered by Health Republic would continue to receive medical care.
“The thing we all have to remember is there is a patient in the middle of this,” Hayworth said. “Our first obligation is to our patients.”
Other health care providers, including local hospitals, have been in the same boat as MKMG.
Putnam Hospital Center is owed $1.8 million, according to Marcela Rojas, the manager of public and community affairs. Health Quest, which is the parent company of Putnam Hospital Center, is owed $4.4 million in total and doctors throughout its three hospitals are owed $350,000.
“In meetings with state officials, a discussion has focused on how to recoup any of these payments owed to individual patients as well as hospitals, physicians and other providers,” Rojas said in an email interview this past Friday. “There is a discussion on restructuring Health Republic, but the question is, what assets, if any, remain? Recouping any funds may be both a federal and state matter. There is currently no guarantee, emergency or recovery fund in Washington or Albany to cover those losses. Hospitals are meeting with state legislators this week to discuss how best to proceed to recoup at least some of the money owed.”
Officials at Northern Westchester Hospital estimate that they will be owed $2 million due to nonpayment of services provided to Health Republic patients.
“We believe NWH will recover some unknown portion of that amount,” said Joel Seligman, president and CEO of Northern Westchester Hospital. “Under New York State law, NWH must continue to provide services to patients for 60 days where continuity and transitions of care are an issue. Northern Westchester Hospital has a robust financial assistance policy applicable to all patients, including former Health Republic patients.”
All of these healthcare providers are receiving guidance and advocacy from the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), a non-profit statewide association representing hospitals, health systems, nursing homes, home care agencies and other providers across the state.
In an interview, Melissa Mansfield, associate director of public and media relations for HANYS, explained that other states have something called a guarantee fund, which operates as an insurance company for the insurance company.
“New York is one of the few that does not have one yet,” she said, adding that medical providers statewide are owed $160 million, not including what will be owed for care rendered during the month of November.
“HANYS is aggressively advocating on behalf of our members with Cuomo administration officials and CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) to secure payment for money owed by Health Republic,” Mansfield said. “HANYS is exploring all available options for immediate payment and pursuing the establishment of a guarantee fund as a way to protect providers for Health Republic claims and from future insolvencies. Our members are obviously concerned about the impact Health Republic’s shutdown has had on patients and are committed to providing care during this transition. However, HANYS continues to raise very serious concerns about the consequences of such a tremendous financial loss when hospitals are already financially fragile.”
In Putnam County, there were 4,241 Health Republic enrollees, according to HANYS. In Westchester County, there were 20,404 enrollees, making it the third-most impacted county in the state, behind Nassau and Suffolk counties.
In a recent interview, state Sen. Terrence Murphy, who represents Mahopac, Somers, Yorktown and North Salem, among other communities, expressed outrage at the collapse of Health Republic, calling it, “at a minimum, gross mismanagement and negligence. Where the hell was DFS?” Murphy asked, referring to the Department of Financial Services, the state agency that oversees various industries that operate in the state, including all insurance companies. Murphy said DFS should be investigated.
On Sept. 25, DFS directed Health Republic to cease writing new health insurance policies and announced that the co-op would commence an orderly wind down after the expiration of its existing policies. Weeks later, after a review of Health Republic’s finances, finding it in worse financial condition than the company previously reported in its filings, DFS and New York State of Health, which is the official agency administering the Affordable Care Act, ordered Health Republic to end all of its policies on Nov. 30.
A spokesman for DFS did not return a phone call seeking comment, but on its website, officials with DFS said they opened an official investigation last week on Health Republic’s inaccurate financial reporting.
“NYDFS investigators are collecting and reviewing evidence relating to Health Republic’s substantial underreporting to NYDFS of its financial obligations,” according to the statement. “Among other issues, the investigation will examine the causes of the inaccurate representations to NYDFS regarding the company’s financial condition.”
According to DFS, medical providers who contracted with Health Republic had been legally bound to provide healthcare through the expiration of a patient’s plan with Health Republic, regardless of their concerns about reimbursement.
“NYDFS is taking actions that will apply a New York State law that prohibits providers from collecting or attempting to collect from Health Republic consumers amounts that are owed by Health Republic,” a statement on the website said. In addition, according to the DFS website, doctors must honor all new insurance policies of patients who are in an ongoing course of treatment with a provider for a life-threatening or a degenerative and disabling condition or disease, or in the second or third trimester of pregnancy for up to 60 days or through the pregnancy.
All of this is good for the patients, but Murphy expressed worry about how some local doctors might fare with all the lost reimbursements.
“You have practices that might go belly up,” said Murphy, who is a chiropractor in addition to being a legislator. “This is going to be a disaster…You will see some of them go out of business.”
While Dr. Hayworth at MKMG expressed confidence that his medical group would continue to offer top-notch care for its patients, he said that healthcare is a narrow-margin business and lost reimbursements will affect his group’s ability to recruit the best and brightest physicians, who he fears might be lured to other states.
Hayworth, who is married to former Congresswoman Nan Hayworth, declined to comment on the politics of the Affordable Care Act, but he said there definitely needs to be insurance reform. He also called on Albany and Washington, D.C. to provide “legislative relief” to the medical providers impacted by Health Republic’s collapse.
Sen. Murphy, who is chairman of the Administrative Regulations Review Commission, said he respects the legislative process, which calls for other committees to work on the problem, but has shared his concerns with state Sen. Kemp Hannon, chair of the Health Committee, who has started up round table discussions to determine the next steps.
“Anything to make sure this never happens again,” Murphy said.
Assemblyman David Buchwald, who represents North Salem, is also working on the problem.
“I have heard from constituents who are doctors and are concerned that they will not be paid for the services they provided to Health Republic patients,” Buchwald said in statement. “I have worked to raise this issue in Albany while the legislature is not in session. Understandably, the most immediate concern is ensuring that people who had Health Republic insurance are transitioned as smoothly as possible to new insurance. This is important to both patients and doctors, so that at least people are insured and health providers get paid going forward. Next, New York will hopefully see to it that insurance companies have adequate financial resources and address the needs of health professionals who have been left holding the bag. I expect that work to begin as soon as Health Republic customers are transitioned to their new insurance.”
Assemblyman Steve Katz, who represents Mahopac, Somers and Yorktown, did not return a call seeking comment. Nor did Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who represents Mahopac, Somers and North Salem in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Congresswoman Nita Lowey, who represents Yorktown.
In addition to the health care providers, local brokers are also out of luck. Mahopac resident Robert Simone, a broker with INS Brokers Inc., said he is owed thousands of dollars from Health Republic for his September and October commissions.
In an attempt to recoup his commissions, he called Health Republic, which told him to call DFS.
“DFS said, ‘We have nothing to do with it. Health Republic is holding your money.” Simone said he is not optimistic.
Nor is Chris Radding, one of the owners of the Forbes Agency in Katonah. Radding said he had 22 employer groups who had been members of Health Republic and he had lost thousands of dollars in commissions when Health Republic folded.
“Anything I’ve seen, there is no mention of the broker,” Radding said. Both Radding and Simone emphasized that their priority was ensuring that their clients had health coverage.
“The whole thing is pretty frustrating and really kind of disgusting,” Radding said.
In a press release issued Monday, the New York State Association of Health Underwriters estimated that insurance brokers in New York State will have lost millions of dollars due to unpaid commissions.
“What’s needed is a solution that avoids the usual outcomes of a failed insurance carrier,” the release said. It listed the usual outcome as reduced payments or no payments to those who provided their professional services even after the carrier ceased reimbursement for those services. It also said the solution should not inflate future insurance premiums or increase New York residents’ tax burden.
“We think that we have such a solution,” the release said. “NYS recently announced the existence of a $1 billion surplus, $680 million of which was generated by penalties levied by DFS. New York State should use some of that surplus to pay everyone what they are owed—doctors, hospitals and insurance brokers—and NYS should also ensure that Health Republic enrollees who have selected a licensed insurance advisor will continue to benefit from their advice by directing succeeding carriers to automatically appoint those brokers when their clients accept an auto-enrollment offer.”
Breaking: All Health Republic plans (Group and Individual) ending on 11/30. according to early reports the healthcare Co-Op Health Republic NY will be shutting down Nov 30, 2015. New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), the New York State of Health Marketplace (NYSOH), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced additional actions regarding Health Republic Insurance of New York (“Health Republic”) and a transition plan for Health Republic customers.
TIMELINE:
Oct 28th – Utah Healthcare Co-Op shutting down end of 2015. This sis the 5th Co-Op to shut down
June 2015 – With a spike in rate increase of 15-20% for 2016 to reflect unexpected high costs of new 200,000 membership the most affordable health plan was experiencing difficulties. The insurer reported $130 million in losses during its first 18 months of operations, according to financial filings, even as it enrolled more customers than any other insurer. DFS did allow for a 13 percent increase in the second year and a 14 percent increase heading into 2016. Both were lower than what Health Republic requested, though, and were not enough to save the struggling insurer.
May 2015- Health Republic was dealt its death blow when it became clear that the Affordable Care Act’s risk corridor program would not be fully funded, said one source familiar with the company’s finances. A report from Standard & Poor’s in May said the program had only 10 percent of the funds needed to make payments.
Summer 2013 -Health Republic had borrowed $265 million to begin operations.
New Insurance Risk Corridors paid for by a combination of both consumer insurance premium surcharge tax of 2-3% and Health Insurers is suppose to reclaim capital to those that are less profitable. Health Republic was owed approximately $147 million but was told by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to expect less than half that according to sources.
Regrettably, we all suffer when an Insurer exits the market. Furthermore, it will be a while again when Federal funds earmarked to start a low cost affordable health plans will materialize again. We are pulling for neighboring co-op Health Republic of NJ and hope this trend discontinues.
Our agency will be working closely with our clients to mitigate this exposure and transition smoothly for Dec 1, 2015. Individuals on the Marketplace can contact the New York State Department of Financial Services Consumer Hot Line with questions regarding Health Republic by calling 1-800-342-3736. The Hot Line hours are weekdays (Monday through Friday) from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Please Click here to read the full Press Release from NYDFS.
Stay posted, more news to follow. Our Agency as in the past will be out and early in front positioning our clients for best options. For more information on this or to schedule a call please contact us info@medicalsolutionscorp.com today.
Oxford has released an affordable new plan for 2016 and not a moment too soon. With the recent exit of popular Health Republic of NY, Health Republic NY is Shutting Down, the market is starving for an affordable option.
Today’s largest networks with in-network only GOLD are priced at $9,000/single annually. They typically are accompanied with $50 copays and non-office exposures of $1,000 deductibles and coinsurance percent in network. The new Metro network is approximately 25% smaller than NY Liberty network with up to 15% IN SAVINGS. For example, an Oxford Liberty HMO Gold is $745 vs Oxford Metro Gold $650.
In 2015 Oxford’s Garden State Network originated the same game plan of offering a third network in addition to FREEDOM and LIBERTY. After all what good is a large network when one cannot afford to visit Providers? The third network answers the call for access to Providers with half the copays priced at approximately $1,500 less.
All Metal Levels will be included for all size groups including 1-99 & 100+. The new Oxford Metro plan will be limited to NY and NJ Garden State Network Providers. Referrals will be needed to see Specialists. Importantly, most NY Hospitals will be participating with the EXCEPTION of NYU Health System, North Shore LIJ Health System (NorthWell Health) and Maimonides Medical Center. In addition, certain key medical IPA Groups such as Mt Kisko Medical Group are NOT in the network.
The Healthy NY and off-exchange Individuals will use exclusively this new Oxford Metro Network.
Sign up for upcoming webinars and newsletters. Please contact us TODAY for a customized analysis for your group-specific needs at info@medicalsolutionscorp.com or Call (855) 667-4621.
ACA Marketplace and Employer Health Plan Cost Comparison
Are you ready for 2016 Individual Open Enrollment? The #1 question we get form individuals is am I better off staying on the individual plan or joining my small employer group plan?
Starting Nov 1, 2015, the 3rd anniversary of Obamacare’s ACA Marketplace begins. Continuing through 2018, several new parts of the Affordable Care Act that affect costs and benefits will be rolled out. The remaining provisions will take effect against a backdrop of new patterns in health care spending and trends.
A frequent Employer question is how do costs compare on the ACA Marektplace vs. Employer Health Plans. The infographic from the Commonwealth Fund point out that the premiums are more favorable when factoring low income premium subsidies. In order to even the scales, an individual must earn $23,500 for a net subsidized premium of $125/month (click Kaiser calculator). This number represents 60% of marketplace enrollees. The same $125/month contribution amount represents 55% of employer health plans.
One positive point is that U.S. health care spending has slowed in the past few years. In a recent 16-month period, nearly 23 million Americans have enrolled in the Affordable Care Act, while almost 6 million people lost coverage. Research from Rand Corp. finds that of the newly insured:
42 percent are covered through employer-sponsored plans.
29 percent are enrolled in Medicaid.
18 percent have health coverage in individual marketplaces.
Take a look at the infographic:
2016 Open Enrollment Deadlines:
November 1, 2015: Open Enrollment starts — first day you can enroll in a 2016 insurance plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Coverage can start as soon as January 1, 2016.
FYI2016 plans and prices will be available for preview the third week of October, 2015.
December 15, 2015: Last day to enroll in or change plans for new coverage to start January 1, 2016.
January 1, 2016: 2016 coverage starts for those who enroll or change plans by December 15.
January 15, 2016: Last day to enroll in or change plans for new coverage to start February 1, 2016
January 31, 2016: 2016 Open Enrollment ends. Enrollments or changes between January 16 and January 31 take effect March 1, 2016.
If you don’t enroll in a 2016 health insurance plan by January 31, 2016, you can’t enroll in a health insurance plan for 2016 unless you qualify for a Marketplace Special Enrollment Period.
Penalty: The uninsured penalty rises to $695 or 2.5% of your income, whichever is higher.
Coverage start dates
If you enroll before the 15th of any month, your coverage starts the first day of the next month. If you enroll after the 15th of the month, you’ll have to wait until the month after that for your coverage to start. So, for example, if you enroll on January 16, your coverage would start on March 1.
Enroll using our online comparison shopping tool for both on and off-Exchange Marketplace to be released next week. Email us or Contact us at (855)667-4621.
BREAKING: The young Co-Op start up of 2014 will be shutting down Dec 31, 2015. With membership totals approx. 200,000+ the early exit comes as a shocking surprise despite their recent losses and 15-20% rate increase approved for 2016.
On Friday, a joint announcement came from the state Department of Financial Services, the Department of Health and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with DFS directing Health Republic to cease writing new health insurance policies and begin an orderly wind-down of business.
“Given Health Republic’s financial situation, commencing an orderly wind down process before the upcoming open enrollment period is the best course of action to protect consumers,” said Anthony Albanese, acting superintendent at DFS. “Moving forward, we will work closely with New York State of Health and federal regulators to help ensure continuity of coverage for Health Republic’s customers.”CMS officials said decision was made after state and federal agencies determined it was likely Health Republic would become financially insolvent.
According to recent announcements Health Republic of NY was exiting the small group and individual markets for Mid-Hudson, Albany, and Utica/Watertown regions. These counties include: Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Hamilton, Oneida, Orange, Oswego, Putnam, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Sullivan, Ulster, Warren, and Washington. The reasoning was the high delivery costs driven by Provider consolidation, see https://healthrepublicny.org/media/2563/faqs-service-area-reductions.pdf.
With recent exits for Insurers such Atlantis, Emblem Health/GHI and Empire blue Cross the transitions were handled differently. Some allowed groups to see their plan through renewal anniversary date or end of year. Further announcements are expected on transition of coverage.
Our Agency as in the past will be out and early in front positioning our clients for best options. For more information on this or to schedule a call please contact us info@medicalsolutionscorp.com today.
