The IAA One Minute Blog

Due to the new health law, the Patient Protection Act, your flexible spending plan is about to become a bit less flexible.

Medical Reimbursement Flexible Spending Accounts (MRFSA) have long been a valuable tool for budget-wise consumers. These accounts let you use pretax dollars to pay for eligible out-of-pocket healthcare expenses (ex. deductibles, co-pays, dental care). You agree to set aside a certain amount of money each year, usually through paycheck deductions, based on what you expect your healthcare needs are going to be. Do you know you are going to need $1,000 for out-of-pocket medical expenses? By using a MRFSA you would not be taxed on that money. By using pretax dollars, you can reduce your overall cost for these items by about 20 percent.

As of today, there is no IRC limit on the amount of money that can be redirected to your Medical Reimbursement Flexible Spending Account. However, effective January 1st, 2013, a provision of the PPACA will implement a maximum medical reimbursement benefit of $2,500 annually, making healthcare a little less flexible for many of us.

IAA Has the Tools for You

Let's not worry over things we can't control. What we can do is begin to plan on how the change might impact our take home pay. IAA has a great tool to help you plan and budget: it is a calculator tool that is also a perfect planning tool.

This handy little tool can be found after you login to the IAA website:

1. Go to: Benefits/Claims
2. Click on: Click Here for Flex/HRA Information
3. A new screen will pop up: Click on Calculators on the left hand side
4. Click on: Section 125 Calculator
5. Plug in your information  

For non members who would like to try the calculator, please contact us for login information.

The calculator allows you to run through scenarios on how much you can save depending upon the amount you would put into the FSA. After you enter in the information, you can see the best way to increase your net take home pay. With this calculator you can see how much you can save in tax deductions with an FSA.

Do you want additional convenience? See the handy dandy video about the IAA MyResource Debit Card.

IAA is on your side, coming up with solutions to help with these new turn of events. We'll come up with useful tools; you just need to use them. It's a great partnership.

Want to see more articles on how the Patient Protection Act will affect you? Check out this blog post.

It used to be that when you bought Consumer Directed Services, it was like dining a la' cart. Want a Flexible Spending Account (FSA)? Not a problem that will be five-dollars. Would you like to add a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)? That will be an additional two-dollars.

Now with Insurance Administrator of America feel free to have the entrée with all the side dishes for the same price. All new business effective January 2012 can access as many accounts as they want, with no additional unit costs.

IAA Wants to Pay it Forward to Our Current Clients Too!

If your business is already with IAA, you can now add new accounts at no additional unit cost. During these hard economic times maintaining a sound employee benefit program can be financially difficult. IAA wants to help you continue to succeed with a little "Pay it Forward." There is no better way to do that than by having one price for multiple services.

Take Advantage of Our Services 

Now that clients have the ability to pick and choose their consumer directed services at no additional costs, what would you like to add on? Do you want to add parking and transit or dependent care? Maybe add a HRA on top of your FSA? The decision is up to you

IAA is here to provide clients with the best resources possible. With this economic climate, IAA wants to ensure that our clients are getting as much for their money as possible.

So when you sit down to dinner remember, IAA will let you pick and choose what you want. We like to think of it as our insurance buffet.

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On January 1st of this year, a new rule regarding medical loss ratio regulations came into effect. Medical loss ratio is part of the Affordable Care Act.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a new regulation that states health insurers are required to spend at least 80% of individual and small group premiums on medical care and 85% for large group premiums. This leaves the remainder for administrative costs, which will have to include insurance brokers' commissions. If carriers do not meet this requirement then they must provide a rebate to customers.

Most commissions amount to four or five percent of the premium. Consequently, insurance carriers are going to decide on profits or to pay commissions. This ruling is going to also put pressure on a carrier's ability to offer the consumer favored (lower premium) Qualified High Deductible Health Plans. Lower premiums mean less money available for carriers to pay their cost of business, let alone profits or commissions. They won't be able to afford to offer them!

Here is Your Solution: MLR Does Not Apply to Self-Funded Plans

While insurance brokers may be worried about the cut to their commission, Insurance Administrator of America is here to reassure you that as a broker, with self-funded medical plans there would be no loss. MLR does not include self-funded medical plans, plus employers enjoy a lower cost of providing a health insurance plan. Qualified High Deductible Health Plans will still be available to your employer. When a broker has a self-funded plan with IAA they are able to define their compensation.

Isn't it nice to know that in the New Year IAA has you covered? We put that one on our list of New Year's resolutions.

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On Friday December 16, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a bulletin outlining how the states would now be responsible for implementing policies for Essential Healthcare Benefits (EHB) under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

States would need to choose an existing healthcare plan to set as a benchmark for services that would be included in the EHB package. HHS sent out the following benchmarks:

• One of the three largest small group plans in the state
• One of the three largest state employee health plans
• One of the three largest federal employee health plan options
• The largest HMO plan offered in the state's commercial market

Essential Benefits Are Covered

With all of this new information, it is understandable that you might be nervous about having to make big changes in your healthcare plan. Insurance Administrator of America (IAA) is here to tell you not to worry! Throughout the implementation of the Patient Protection Act, IAA has been keeping their plans in compliance with any current standards required.

Here Is Some Good News

IAA has reviewed the plans we administer and they already include the HHS suggested Essential Benefits. In other words, as a client with IAA you are already in compliance with the standards. However, the PPACA will continue to evolve, but our self-insured clients are in the best position to adapt to any required enhancement. If you do want or need to change your self insured medical plan, you can! The beauty of self insured medical plans is that they allow you to stay flexible in a moment's notice.

We at IAA are here to help manage your medical insurance needs. So sit and relax in front of the fire with a steam cup of hot chocolate. Don't worry, IAA has you covered.