Below are our most recent carrier and industry news updates for New York.

UHC Oxford Rate Filing Notification: NY Community Rated Policy and Certificate Holders
9/1/10 - On June 7, 2010, New York State Legislature passed a bill amending components of the insurance law applying to rate increases sought for community rated products (individual, small group, and HMO). In compliance with this law, UnitedHealthcare/Oxford will be sending  group and subscriber notices on or before September 1, 2010. Notices will be sent to impacted groups and subscribers with renewal dates of January 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011, with the exception of Healthy New York notices, hich will be mailed to all constituents regardless of renewal date.

Emblem Advance Notice Changes
9/1/10 - EmblemHealth has released an Advance Notice letter about changes to Premium Rates. In keeping with guidelines that the NY State Insurance Department review and approve plan premium rate increases, EmblemHealth has applied to the NY State Insurance Department  for a monthly rate increase for Community Rated plans for clients with contracts renewing from January 2011 through June 2011.

Aetna Seminar Series
9/2/10  - Small Group training sessions help you sell the NYC Community PlanSM
Do you want to: Learn how to sell a great product with attractive benefits and affordable rates? Discover ways to improve the business cash flow of your 5 Borough clients? Assist your clients in managing through this challenging economy more effectively? See what other changes we’ve made for the fourth quarter?
 

HealthPass Reform Information
8/17/10 - On March 23, 2010 President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA), the largest expansion of the public health care system since the passage of legislation in 1965 that created the Medicare and Medicaid programs.  In order to provide you with simple and concise information, HealthPass has created a policy summary and timeline outlining the provisions that affect small businesses, both in the near- and long-term.

Aetna Goes Mobile
8/5/10 Aetna members can find personalized health information when and where they need it. To help people better manage their health, they are offering Aetna Mobile as a convenient and personalized way for members to access health information. With this innovative resource, members can connect to Aetna.com instantly from a cell phone, smart phone or other Web-enabled mobile device simply by typing www.aetna.com into the browser.

New Product from UnitedHealthcare - Catalyst
8/3/10 - A new medical product from UnitedHealthcare , will be available for quoting to New York groups with 51 or more employees on August 1, 2010. Plans will have an effective date of September 1, 2010. Catalyst provides health care coverage by combining a comprehensive catastrophic coverage plan with a Pre-deductible Allowance. The value-added Pre-deductible Allowance provides consumers the opportunity to obtain basic preventive, routine, or emergency health services without triggering the high eductible catastrophic component of their coverage plan. In other words, consumers can get the routine coverage they want and the protection for major health events they may need.

LIA New HIP & Emblem Guidelines
8/3/10 - New Emblem & HIP Participation Requirements were recently distributed to General Agents and Brokers. To ensure that the enrollment process is not delayed, please be sure that all new business submissions are incompliance with theses new guidelines .

HealthPass Health Medical Cost Advocate
8/3/10 - Medical Cost Advocate is a consumer directed health care service that saves employers money on their healthcare. It is a last line of defense for reducing out of pocket costs and can save your clients both time and money.

Aetna Announces Agreement with CVS Caremark
7/30/10 Aetna is entering into a 12-year strategic agreement with CVS Caremark that will result in enhanced value to your customers and their members. This arrangement will allow Aetna to provide customers with high-value, integrated pharmacy plans that are driven by total cost and quality management, clinical superiority, a holistic, member-centric experience and market-leading products.

Aetna Tax Credit Reminder
7/9/10 - Under the Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Services issued guidance to encourage small groups to offer health care coverage for the first time or enable them to maintain the coverage they currently have. IRS Notice 2010-44 provides guidelines to help small group employers determine whether they qualify for the credit and estimate the amount of the credit. Aetna would like to encourage you to remind your small group clients about the small business health care tax credit .

Oxford NY Specialty Update
7/9/10 - In  November 2009, Oxford announced that effective January 1, 2010, the UnitedHealth Pharmaceutical Solutions Specialty Pharmacy Program would be implemented in NY and NJ upon the group’s renewal date. At the time of our communication, the program’s use of Prescription Solutions as a network specialty pharmacy was pending final New York regulatory approval. Oxford has received this approval and effective immediately, your client’s employees will be required to obtain specialty medications from Prescription Solutions, or another network specialty pharmacy, in order to receive in-network coverage for those medication(s). All of the information can be found here .

Oxford Flu Shot Update
7/8/10 - A special offering from Oxford and Health & Fitness concepts. For clients that commit to 2 years of flu shots, Health & Fitness Concepts is offering:  A free 3 hour on-site massage -  Two free 1-hour nutrition seminars taught by a registered dietician.

RX Information for Transitioning HNet Groups
7/7/10 - In an effort to help ensure Health Net employer groups can make a smooth transition to an Oxford product,  Oxford has developed new pharmacy materials to help employers and their employees understand Oxford pharmacy benefits, including Prescription Drug List (PDL) differences between Health Net and Oxford, as well as other important information about transitioning.

AETNA - COBRA SUBSIDY EXTENSION ENDED
7/7/10 - Reminder that the subsidy extension ended - May 31, 2010. Since February 2009, Congress extended the COBRA subsidy to unemployed workers four times.
The last extension - The Continuing Extension Act of 2010 (CEA) - amended ARRA to further extend the period to qualify for the COBRA premium reduction until May 31, 2010.

AETNA IMPORTANT BENEFIT CHANGES
7/7/10 -  Important changes to health benefits plans for October 1, 2010 effective dates. We are pleased to announce upcoming plan changes for new and renewing groups with 2 - 50 eligible employees. You will receive more details about these plan changes via a webinar in late July. Be on the lookout some time in July for an invite to this webinar.

UNITED PRESCRIPTION DRUG LISTS AVAILABLE
7/6/10 -  July 2010 Oxford Prescription Drug Lists Now Available. Our July 2010 Traditional and Advantage Prescription Drug Lists (PDL) are now available to brokers, employers and members on www.oxfordhealth.com. Benefit Plan Updates Summaries outlining the July 1 changes are also available to brokers. These July 2010 PDL communications are attached for your convenience.