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Category: Steven G. Cosby, MHSA

Important Update from Anthem

Immediate Release

February 5, 2015

To our valued business partner:

Safeguarding your clients’ personal, financial and medical information is one of our top priorities, and because of that, we have state-of-the-art information security systems to protect your data. However, despite our efforts, Anthem was the target of a very sophisticated external, cyber attack. These attackers gained unauthorized access to Anthem’s information technology (IT) system and have obtained personal information from our current and former members such as their names, birthdays, member ID/Social Security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, including income data. Based on the information we know now, there is no evidence that banking, credit card, medical information (such as claims, test results, or diagnostic codes) were targeted or compromised.

Once the attack was discovered, Anthem immediately made every effort to close the security vulnerability, contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and began fully cooperating with their investigation. Anthem has also retained Mandiant, one of the world’s leading cybersecurity firms, to evaluate our systems and identify solutions based on the evolving landscape.

Anthem’s own associates’ personal information – including our own – was accessed during this security breach. We join you in your concern and frustration, and we assure you that we are working around the clock to do everything we can to further secure your clients’ data.

Anthem will individually notify current and former members whose information has been accessed. We will provide credit monitoring and identity protection services free of charge so that those who have been affected can have peace of mind. We have created a dedicated website (www.AnthemFacts.com ) where members can access information such as frequently asked questions and answers. We have also established a dedicated toll-free number that both current and former members can call if they have questions related to this incident. That number is: 1-877-263-7995. As we learn more, we will continually update this website and share that information with you. And, we developed a memo template and FAQ to help you answer questions you may receive from your clients.

We want to personally apologize to you and your clients for what has happened, as we know you expect us to protect your information. We will do everything in our power to make our systems and security processes better and more secure, and hope that we can earn back your trust.

Your local representative is also prepared to discuss this with you.

Sincerely,

Ken Goulet
President, Commercial and Specialty Business

Burke King
Virginia Plan President

Source: http://news.anthem.com/bcp/index.php/articlepreview/index.html/important_update_from_anthem1

Contact Steven G. Cosby, MHSA with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.

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Does the Employer Mandate Apply to Your Business?

Lingering questions about the Affordable Care Act’s impact on small businesses goes to one of the fundamental issues the law raises for employers: the responsibility to offer health insurance to workers or face a penalty.

The employer mandate, as it’s known, applies to companies with at least 50 employees. Originally, it was supposed to take effect at the beginning of this year.

Last year, however, the administration put off enforcing the mandate until 2015. By last spring, the mandate, staunchly opposed by most Republicans, had lost the support of some Democrats as well.
And in April, a former Obama administration spokesman predicted that the employer mandate “will be one of the first things to go.”

So the first question for employers is, Will the mandate actually take effect next year? And the answer is: Not for companies with fewer than 100 employees.

Read the full article here.

Contact Steven G. Cosby, MHSA with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.

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IRS Announces 2015 Dollar Limits on Compensation and Benefits

Revised as of October 31, 2014

The Internal Revenue Service announced cost-of-living adjustments affecting the dollar limitations that will apply in 2015 for employee benefit plans. There are modest increases in many (but not all) of these limits.

The key limits will apply for 2015, as well as the limits that continue to be in place for the remainder of 2014. Please contact Steven Cosby if you have any questions about how these limits will apply to your benefit plans.

Read the full update here.

Contact Steven G. Cosby, MHSA with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.

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D.C. Council to Vote on Broad New Tax on Insurance to Cover City’s Health Care Exchange

The District’s health exchange has a problem — a big money problem.

Like the 14 states that started online marketplaces, the District faces a year-end deadline to prove its Web site can move past technology glitches to meet the next looming challenge in President Obama’s Affordable Care Act: financial self-sufficiency.

But unlike the others, the city does not have enough customers buying insurance on its Web site to copy the funding scheme adopted by most states and the federal government: a tax of a few percentage points on premiums.

To cover its $28 million annual budget, the District’s exchange would have to levy a whopping 17 percent tax on every health plan sold on its Web site.

Read full article here.

Contact Steven Cosby with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.

Obamacare’s Employer Mandate is Under Attack From Both Sides. Will it Survive?

Critics of the health care law, including many business owners, have long bemoaned a provision that requires employers to provide health coverage to their workers. Now, some of the law’s supporters are starting to call for the rule’s elimination, too. “Repeal of the employer mandate might, in fact, not be such a bad idea,” Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington and Lee University and vocal supporter of the Affordable Care Act, wrote this week in a column for Health Affairs.
In simplest terms, the employer mandate, as it has become known, requires firms with at least 50 workers to offer affordable, comprehensive health insurance to every full-time worker. If they don’t, they face fines of up to $2,000 per employee.

Read full article here.

Contact Steven Cosby with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.