Skip to main content

Confluence Health dropping Premera, Lifewise, and Regence, not so fast let's talk about this.

 Confluence Health announced that they are going to terminate the contract with Premera January 31,2022. We started hearing about the negotiations back in May so we double checked with the Premera Filings in June. Our county is zone 7 and you can quickly see how we are priced compared to the rest of the state. You can also see that Premera intends to be in our area because it is literally in their filed plans. If they don't reach an agreement then professionals already have solutions. 



We have had insurance companies leave the area before. The last we saw this was Soundpath Health a Medicare Advantage Plan bought by Premera closed its's doors January 1, 2019. We saw it when Premera, Lifewise and Molina left the individual marketplace during a contraction. At any given time, there is about two hospital systems negotiating with an insurance company. Insurance professionals have dealt with this before and have plans for when this happens. 

We are recommending to not do anything immediately. If you are still concerned then talk with who ever is your plan administrator, your HR person, or broker. They will be able to tell you how it affects you if they do not reach agreement plus after open enrollment they will be able to update you with options. Having a professional in your life is useful because they can use their education and training to assist you.

If you have a Medigap plan then it probably will not affect you. Talk with your plan administrator. 

If you are part of a Large Group then they may take a little extra time changing companies.

If you are part of a Small Group then they may wish to swap to another small group plan or even do what a lot of companies are doing and go with a monthly bonus to you and utilizing the Enrollment Center / Washington Healthplanfinder. We started seeing this option a lot early on because the Healthplanfinder was delivering more options at a lower price in most cases. This will be doubly so because of the American Rescue Plan which will lower prices through 2022. 




If you have an individual plan then contact who ever your work with or the Enrollment Center and we will assist you. 

We are expecting this to be done by the start of Enrollment Season.

Medicare Open Enrollment starts October 15th. 

Healthcare Open Enrollment starts November 1st. 


Suzie Health Solutions runs the Enrollment Center located in Wenatchee, Washington. We charge nothing to educate and enroll people in Life, Health and Medicare plans. You can catch us on Facebook or our podcast: Suzilla. 


Added information on 8/13:

Press release from Confluence




FAQ

Labels:
Location: 413 N Mission St, Wenatchee, WA 98801, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The gig economy and life insurance

It takes minutes Temporary work, contract jobs, seasonal jobs, freelance, piece work, driving for Uber, selling on Etsy, etc. The gig economy has been around for ever. Whether it is picking apples for the season, working the slopes at mission ridge, to being a contractor at a server farm it is easy to fall into a gig career path. About a third of the American workforce has found themselves bouncing from short term job to short term job. While the pay can be good temporary, what about the long term? A policy for everyone When was the last time that you met someone that retired after working from the same job for 40 years? On average, you will change jobs times 12 times in your lifetime. What happens if the next company doesn't offer a plan? We have seen companies terminate life insurance policies for retirees. Do really want to leave your family high and dry for a short term job? What happens when you die? Your bills don't go away . A majority of adults say a fu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Medicare Advantage, Supplement and Drug Plans from a local office.

  We do a lot of work with the Washington Healthplanfinder as an Enrollment Center for Healthcare. Seriously, we are open year round answering questions and enrolling people in healthcare. When Suzie first started transitioning from being a Pharmacy Technician, she wanted to lead helping Medicare Individuals with their plans.  Yes, we assist people with Medicare. We stock materials Medicare Advantage, Supplement and Drug plans so that we can help with questions at our office in Wenatchee for your initial enrollment. Most people can enroll into Medicare plans 3 months before their 65 th Birthday, the month of and 3 months after their Birthday. Folks also can delay enrollment if they are covered by   plan through work. We can do a lot over the phone however sometimes there is nothing like having a complete enrollment packet in your fingertips. We like to take the time to do it correctly and it is not a problem to answer questions through the year. The best part is ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Medicare Advantage and Prescription Changes for 2025

  How does we know that big changes is coming to Medicare for 2025 without talking about insurance plan details? Well it is real simple, the Inflation Reduction Act put in some very positive changes that impact Prescriptions in a big way. 1. Insulin at $35/month (already started). 2. vaccine access (already started). 3. Expansion of low income subsidy (already started). 4. $2000 yearly out of pocket max of prescription drug cost 2025. 5. Medicare Prescription Payment plan starts in 2025. 6. Manufacturer discount program starts in 2025. 7. In 2026 we will see the first 10 negotiated drug prices. These impact every Medicare Prescription Plan including Medicare Advantage plans that have prescriptions! Yes, large insurance companies have been predicting 50% of people using Medicare with prescriptions will switch plans this year. The Medicare Annual Enrollment Period runs from October 15th through December 7th. Set your appointments early for Suzie . While we can not discuss Medicare ...
Post a Comment
Read more