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WA State 2021 Health Insurance Rates and Smart Plan

  Open Enrollment Nov 1 - Dec 15 for Jan 1,2021 start! The Office of the Insurance Commissioner has approved the rates for 2021 on the Washington Healthplanfinder . This is the second year in a row that we have seen a significant decrease in rates. Thirteen health insurers have been approved to sell plans on the Washington Healthplanfinder and the average rate of decrease is 3.2%!  The two plans that are intending to sell plans off the exchange. Asuris Northwest Health , which we can assist you with as we are affiliated with. There is also Health Alliance Northwest Healthplan , who insures 7 people in Chelan, Douglas and Grant Counties. (If you want to see their plans then let us know when you are in our office and we can show you where to find them).  There are also two new companies on the Healthplanfinder for 2021. They are Community Health Network of Washington and UnitedHealthcare of Washington. If a company does not contract with a broker then it becomes a buyer ...

Healthplanfinder and Income update FEMA payment

Here we go with some COVID relief for the unemployed.  Beginning September 21st, Employment Security will begin processing payments of an additional $300 per week to the state base weekly  unemployment benefit approved under the Lost Wages Assistance FEMA Payment.  There is only five weeks approved for weeks August 1st - Sept 5th.  The Lost Wages Assistance FEMA payments is not countable for Washington Apple Health (Medicaid) eligibility but is countable for tax credit and cost-sharing reductions. We have been advised to not include the $300 Lost Wages Assistance FEMA payment in your weekly unemployment income amount reported to the Washington Healthplanfinder application.  You should choose to adjust their Qualified Health Plan tax credits by adjusting the amount of tax credits applied to their premium in Washington Healthplanfinder . If you under estimate your income and use more tax credits than you are qualified for then you must pay those back when you fi...

No Cost and Low Cost Children's Health Insurance

Hi, Matt and Suzie have been helping Central Washington eight years. We are the full service enrollment center located in Wenatchee . We are a family run small business. This means people can walk in, get help on there account and not be charged a fee. We recommend always selecting a no charge broker to provide additional assistance if things go sideways as well as getting access to their expert assistance.  While we insure a lot of people with the Healthplanfinder and on Medicare . Today we are going to talk about Apple Health or Medicaid. The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or Apple Health (Medicaid) provides insurance for kids under 19 if your modified adjusted gross incomes meets the requirements. The requirements are adjusted every April. Please contact us if you are interested in enrolling for healthcare for your child.  Is my child eligible? Kids with single parents kids with two parents kids living on their own kids living with grandparents, family or fr...

HR 5 Equality Act, BLM and discrimination in business.

Why would a small business fly a Pride Flag? Do you feel it is important to treat all people like people? As a business owner this comes up more than I expected over the last decade. So when one of my friends that runs a barber shop asked about HR 5: Equality Act , I had to have a deeper discussion. Representative John Lewis spoke about the importance of the Equality Act passing.  As a small business, we decided a long time ago to promote and support equality.  It's our job to insure , not to judge. It's an very old school mentality that was reinforced by my first District Manager. If someone walks through my door as long as they are not abusive, disruptive or spreading illness then they are welcome. Our office literally assists just about everyone because we do business and are open to the public. We have no problem flying a pride flag, or a Black Lives Matters poster or a Latinx banner. We are part of a larger community. Discrimination is an issue and it is ...

Covid, Healthcare, Employment and the 2020 Recession

We are on the front lines at Wenatchee Insurance . When someone loses their job and needs healthcare then they come to us. Suzie and Matt have been helping people with little or no money sign up for healthcare since 2013. We literally have our finger on the pulse of the economy and healthcare. We started seeing businesses adjust their income last fall. We knew that it was going to be rough because hard news is not the easiest to look at. Check out our podcast for more info. Well how did we get here? We were in trouble before Covid got a strong hold in the United States. 1. Our country's pandemic response was disassembled from the very beginning of the current administration. On Jan 13,2017, the Joint Obama-Trump transition team goes through a series of pandemic-scenarios. Most of the individuals are no longer with the administration. Funding and personnel are cut to key areas. 2. It has been politicized by the administration . Trump's tweets were bad and his r...

Going back to school with COVID?

https://wenatcheetown.podbean.com The further that we get into August and the higher the COVID 19 infected, the more that sending our kids back to school will be an issue. As parent's of a 14 year old, it maters to us will our kid be safe. What level of illness floating around is a reasonable risk? How can he get that needed social contact with out contracting something that can injure or even kill him? Everyone needs to follow what actions are occurring to help them find what is safe for their family. Let's start with the politicians. 1. There is a great conversation between Representatives Kim Schrier and Katherine Clark . If you have not heard of Rep Schrier then you should know that she is a Doctor and parent of an 11 year old so she is a good person to listen to, 2. It recently became an issue with Florida Lawmakers when it Senator Rick Scott reveled that his Grandkids were going with distance learning instead of traditional school. 3. Baron Trump will be dis...

Covid and Masks

A few people noticed the distinct lack of materials concerning masks and wearing them. This is a problem since Washington state businesses were required to  mask up July 7th . We just passed  3 million infected  will little signs of slowing down. Yes, this means if you are in public doing business and can not social distance then you need to have a mask on. These materials are designed to be shared and help out. We do not know if it is biological or environmental. It is impacting the  Latinx four times greater  than the white population.  Minorities in general are being impacted at a greater rate.   COVID 19 infects people of all ages.   If you don't die then it can have long term effects.  If you don't have a mask then feel free to stop by at Wenatchee Insurance Agency and we have cloth masks to share until we run out. We are located at 413 N Mission Street; Wenatchee, WA 98801. If you have questions about healthcare then feel free to...