Health Insurance with Archana

09/10/2025

Starting Plan year 2026, the ACA Hardship Exemption is being extended to those who are currently ineligible for advance payments of the premium tax credit (APTC) or cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) due to their income. They will be able to enroll in Catastrophic Coverage, which is currently available only to those under 30 years and facing hardship.

https://lnkd.in/ggkuiTpv?

07/24/2025

Upcoming changes to the ACA Open Enrollment for 2026

We are soon approaching the 2026 open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act. You may have heard about the health-care related bill recently passed by Congress - One Big Beautiful Bill Act. There are several changes to be aware of. Here is a brief summary of the changes

03/11/2025

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

03/11/2025

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/trump-health-care-proposal-aca-consumer-protection-enrollment-burdens/

The proposal also would reverse a Biden administration policy that allowed “Dreamers” — immigrants in the country illegally who were brought here as children — from qualifying for subsidized ACA coverage.

01/16/2025

! A decade of serving with passion and pride!

Very late last night, after helping enroll my last customer for the 2025 ACA Open Enrollment Period, I shut down my computer and stared at the wall in front of me in disbelief. This was the 10th Medicare and ACA open enrollment I had just wrapped up as an independent health insurance consultant.

Memories started flooding in. When I was exploring career changes and options ten years ago, I happened to run into Lezley Anderson at a BNI networking event in Redmond. At the end of the meeting she pulled me aside and said I needed to meet Dan Redler. Little did I know that that chance meeting with Lezley, the subsequent phone call with Dan, and the kind mentoring of Jean Christensen, would bring me to this day. Thank you all three of you, for showing me the path to something I enjoy delivering with passion.

I have learned and grown aplenty over the last ten years - thanks to Dan, Lezley, Jean, and my diverse set of customers who I have had the privilege to interact with and serve. They provided me unique learning opportunities and challenges that required me to go the extra mile to find solutions.

ASHI has provided me with more than just professional advancement. It has given me the ability to support Sankara Healthcare Foundation, Inc. , a non-profit whose mission aligns closely with the work I do, and allows me to serve my local community. ASHI has also given me the ability to serve and give back to the people of my ancestral village in India.

I am excited to step into yet another year of learning, serving and growing. The trust my customers and mentors place in me gives me the confidence to keep forging ahead - a special trust that is invaluable to me.

Here’s to more

12/13/2024

Confusion With Ambetter Network for 2025

Swedish termed their contract for their Urgent Care clinics ONLY for the Cascade Select (Public Option) network, effective 1/1/25. Swedish will remain in-network for their CCCWA Exchange (Premier) network that supports the Ambetter and Cascade Care plans.
Their member services team sent incorrect letters to a small number of members on Cascade Select plans who have been seen in a Providence/Swedish Urgent care in the last 6 months. The letter stated incorrectly that Swedish hospital was terminating their contract.

WA ACA Marketplace Cascade Care Savings Ending on Dec 18th

Customers who apply and enroll after Dec. 18 will not receive Cascade Care Savings to lower their 2025 monthly premiums. Households already awarded state premium assistance are secure for plan year 2025. Customers who receive 2025 Cascade Care Savings eligibility prior to Dec. 19 may still receive Cascade Care Savings to lower their premiums in 2025 when they select and enroll in an eligible plan.
Customer demand is increasing at a rate in 2025 that will outpace the remaining funds appropriated by the WA State Legislature through June 2025. WA State is seeing a record high increase in plan premiums as well. Under state law, the Exchange is not allowed to exceed the program’s FY23-25 appropriation.

12/12/2024

11/11/2024

2025 Medicare Update!

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the 2025 premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs, and the 2025 Medicare Part D income-related monthly adjustment amounts.

The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $185.00 for 2025, an increase of $10.30 from $174.70 in 2024. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries will be $257 in 2025, an increase of $17 from the annual deductible of $240 in 2024.

The Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible that beneficiaries pay if admitted to the hospital will be $1,676 in 2025, an increase of $44 from $1,632 in 2024.

Enrollees age 65 and older who have fewer than 40 quarters of coverage, and certain persons with disabilities, pay a monthly premium in order to voluntarily enroll in Medicare Part A. Individuals who had at least 30 quarters of coverage, or were married to someone with at least 30 quarters of coverage, may buy into Part A at a reduced monthly premium rate, which will be $285 in 2025, a $7 increase from 2024. Certain uninsured aged individuals who have fewer than 30 quarters of coverage, and certain individuals with disabilities who have exhausted other entitlements, will pay the full premium, which will be $518 a month in 2025, a $13 increase from 2024.

https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2025-medicare-parts-b-premiums-and-deductibles

10/22/2024

Updates to Washington Balance Billing Protection Act -

The Washington state legislature passed Substitute Senate Bill 5986 (SSB 5986) last year. This new law adds balance billing protections for covered ground ambulance services to Washington’s Balance Billing Protection Act (BBPA).

Comprehensive information for consumers, insurers, providers and arbitrators about Washington's new law to end surprise or balance billing.

10/22/2024

Notice of updated Essential Health Benefits benchmark plans for the State of Washington

On October 7, 2026, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services/CCIIO approved Washington state’s application to update our essential health benefits (EHB) benchmark plan. The new benefits will be effective in plans starting on or after January 1, 2026.

New benefits include:

Coverage for human milk for inpatient use, when an infant is unable to receive maternal milk or when the parent is unable to produce maternal milk in sufficient quantities or caloric density.

Coverage for hearing exams, or hearing aids in each year, every three years.

Coverage for artificial insemination in vivo. Covers the placement of s***m into the cervix, uterus, va**na, or fallopian tubes to achieve a pregnancy.

In addition, some benefits were revised to ensure that our EHB benchmark plan did not discriminate based upon a person’s disability or health condition.

For more information, visit the Essential Health Benefits Benchmark Plan webpage

A new law (SSB 5338) directs the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) to review Washington state’s Essential Health Benefits (EHB) benchmark health plan and decide whether or not to ask the federal government for approval to update the plan. The OIC must report its findings and decision t.....

06/20/2024

The State of Washington's Apple Health Expansion went into effect this morning. At the direction of the legislature, Health Care Authority (HCA) will expand health care coverage to more people. Here is information on who is eligible and how to apply
https://lnkd.in/gNWAwTyR

03/18/2024

Let’s catch up! If your contact information has recently changed, don’t forget to update your Washington Healthplanfinder account. Keep us in the loop at www.wahealthplanfinder.org and .