The Affordable Care Act (ACA) Special Open Enrollment Period will allow new enrollments and/or changes from existing health plans If you don’t have health insurance you may be eligible to enroll in an Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan during the 2021 Special Open...
Community-based organizations are struggling to meet the growing demand for services because of the economic fall-out from COVID-19. And it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. The number of COVID-19 cases is rising across the country and...
Throughout 2020, COVID-19 has tested every aspect of our healthcare practices and systems. This has created the necessity for new creative methods to counter-act the COVID-19 virus at all levels. Due to the lack of information, testing, and turn-around many hospitals...
Throughout 2020, more than a million individuals contracted COVID-19 in the United States. While this placed a huge physical demand on the delivery of products and services like PPE, ventilators, and round the clock healthcare workers, it also completely loaded our...
Changes to physician outpatient CPT coding for evaluation and management (E/M) services take place on January 1, 2021. The billing changes impact more than 50% of E/M services for all providers who see patients in offices or clinics. The changes impact commercial...
What you need to know for Open Enrollment 2021 It is that time of year again, open enrollment season is only a few days aways. Open enrollment is the period of time when individuals can enroll in an Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plan or make changes...
What is the problem? Since the onset of Covid-19, there has been a shortage of primary care physicians nationally. Keeping consumers healthy is extremely important and that means maintaining primary care. Over the years, studies have shown that maintaining...
As if 2020 has not been stressful enough, now scammers are using the COVID-19 pandemic to prey on Medicare and Medicaid recipients by promising free care to their patients in order to gain their personal and health information, including their dates of birth, social...
Many people have been putting the Affordable Care Act on blast. If you haven't noticed, the rate increases are astronomical. Here in Tennessee, Blue Cross Blue Shield raised its rates by 62 percent. In Texas, Blue Cross Blue Shield raised their rates by over 60...
There is a very simple device that we all have in our homes that we may never think of. When I say the term “back-flow preventer,” unless you are a plumber, this may be the first time you have read this term in ten years. This device is used to keep contaminated water...
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), individuals that did not previously have access to employer coverage and could not afford individual insurance premiums on their own, can now shop for plans on the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace. While...
Great strides are made daily in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS. However, in the HIV Care Continuum, a large gap remains between diagnosis and treatment. Why? Many PLWH (People Living With HIV) do not know they can get coverage for treatment. Ryan White and...
Whether you have a Part D Prescription Drug plan or Medicare Advantage plan, you have surely heard of the coverage gap or donut hole. If you are very lucky, it hasn’t affected you much, but for a lot of Medicare enrollees, the coverage gap can be very scary....
This blog post is in honor of the lovely and talented Chelauna Sterling. Here she is with her partner-in-crime, Kayla Patton, at the Chattanooga Medical Society’s Denim and Diamonds Ball. At first, Wayne and Phil were like, "no way. Chelauna would never leave us!"...
The ABCs of Forms 1095-A, 1095-B & 1095-C by Philip Strang The deadline to file taxes is rapidly approaching. Though the April 18th deadline is not news to the masses, we, at American Exchange, receive plenty of calls asking for Form 1095-A in order to file taxes....
Active and Passive Reenrollment for 2016 Marketplace Health Insurance Coverage If you enrolled in a Marketplace plan in 2015, then you may not have to do anything at all to renew your coverage, but government agencies, brokers and assisters all agree that you should...
12.7 Million Americans Make Health Plan Selections Yesterday, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that 12.7 million Americans signed up for health insurance coverage. This number accounts for the 9.6 million Americans who enrolled in coverage...
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a type of savings account that allows millions of people to save to pay for medical expenses. This type of savings account offers consumers the opportunity to make pre-tax contributions; also, withdrawals are not taxed if the funds...
Introduction Nothing is more confusing and disheartening than opening a billing statement only to be shocked by an exorbitant billing amount. If you bought health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace, you too might open a billing statement from your...
Two major health insurance companies are moving forward in merger talks. Hartford, CT-based Aetna and Louisville, KY-based Humana began the merger talks back in July of 2015. According to businesswire.com, Aetna seeks to acquire Humana’s...
