Covered California for Small Business announced a new program that aims to help hundreds of small businesses continue to provide insurance to their employees during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The program will allow employers, who provide coverage to their employees and were unable to pay their premiums for the month of April, an extra 30 days to make their payments for the months of April and May and a way to spread the costs of those premiums over the balance of the year. The Premium Deferral Program is currently being offered to employers who have not yet paid their premiums for April or May. The program will allow affected businesses the flexibility to pay just 25 percent of their premium payments for those two months and defer the remaining amount across the rest of the year. Covered California will continue to monitor the pandemic and determine if further actions are needed to protect small businesses seeking to keep their employees covered.
Tax Consequences of PPP Loans
Wondering about the tax consequences of Payroll Protection Program loan? This piece up on ThinkAdvisor explains the consequences, especially of loans that are forgiven. Spoiler: recipients don’t have to pay taxes on the PPP money but they also won’t be able to deduct certain expenses if those expenses were covered by PPP money.
Humana Recognizes Impact of Social Isolation on Brokers
During a recent conference call to go over Q1 results with security analysts, Humana CFO Brian Kane acknowledged that social isolation presents a challenge for brokers. Kane said the company is encouraging brokers to use other means to connect with clients. “…we’re very focused on making sure that all of our brokers have the digital capabilities to engage with our members telephonically and digitally,” Kane said. Humana Inc. has been recording strong call center sales since COVID-19-related social distancing started, but a lack of face-to-face meetings has meant lackluster sales for traditional brokers.
LAAHU Happy Hour TODAY!
Don’t forget LAAHU’s Happy Hour Wednesdays this afternoon 4-5 p.m. Register here.
Shift Virtual Series announced a 3-day virtual event aimed to help you create a new perspective in the areas of….
- Marketing + Sales Funnels For Current Times
- Sales Training That Works In Today’s Market
- Instagram Specific Strategies
- The Key To Unlocking LinkedIn Leads
- Abundance + Mindset For You + Your Team
- Lead Magnets + Best Practices
- Building (Or Re-Building) Your Brand
- PR + Why It’s More Important Now Than Ever
More info and registration here.
MEDICARE
Humana Picks Up Bill for MA Doc Visits
Humana announced it will cover the bill for Medicare Advantage policyholders when they are ready to ease COVID-19 social distancing and return to the doctor’s office. The health insurer says they are trying to make it easier for seniors to keep up with health. Humana announced it’s waiving copayments, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for the rest of the year for all MA customers who visit their in-network primary care doctor or behavioral health provider. Many insurers, including Humana, had previously waived costs for COVID-related care and telemedicine visits. Humana’s new waiver applies to all primary care and to outpatient behavioral health visits.
MENTAL HEALTH
Heal Launches “Heal Teletherapy” to bring Digital Mental Health Care to Californians
Heal, a leading provider of telemedicine and physician house call services for tens of thousands of patients around the United States, announced the roll out of a new service, “Heal Teletherapy,” which is now available across the state of California. Through this service, Heal patients are able to video-chat with a licensed clinical psychologist for $69 for 20 minutes at a time. Heal Teletherapy doesn’t take insurance at this time, but the company says many large California employers are covering the cost of Heal teletherapy. Heal’s telemedicine and home visit services, however, are in-network with all major PPO insurance companies as well as Medicare. More info here.
National African-American Insurance Assoc Offer Zoom on Managing Stress- May 14, 9 a.m.
LTC
Unum Will Kick in $2.1B More to LTC
Unum Group announced that it has agreed with Maine insurance regulators to add $2.1 billion to its statutory reserves for LTC insurance. The company stopped selling group LTC back in 2012 but is still responsible for the policies sold before. The extra money, of course, is to account for predicted claims. COVID-19, however, has had an impact on claims. Unum acknowledged that the ratio of benefits payments to revenue for its LTC insurance business fell to 81% in the latest quarter, from 88.5% in the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was driven primarily by higher claimant mortality, according to Unum. The company didn’t provide any more details such as the number of COVID-19 deaths involved.
EVENTS
- National Medicare Supplement Insurance Industry Summit Rescheduled to 2021
The 2020 National Medicare Supplement Insurance Summit set to take place May 13-15, 2020, in Chicago will now be held June 2-4, 2021, according to the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance the conference organizers. The conference will take place at the Schaumburg Convention Center just outside of Chicago’s O’Hare airport. The 2021 conference will include its free day for insurance agents who market Medicare and other senior insurance products. Go here for more info.
- CAHU Women’s Leadership Summit Rescheduled to August
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the CAHU Women’s Leadership Summit has been postponed from March to August 5-7, 2020, at the same location, the JW Marriott in Las Vegas. We are hopeful that all current participants, and those who were recently forced to cancel, will be able to join us in August. CAHU will automatically transfer event registrations to the new dates. If for some reason you can no longer attend, please contact Korey Platt by email for additional options.If you have any questions or concerns contact info@cahu.org.
- LAAHU 2020 April Annual Sales Symposium Rescheduled to July
LAAHU will postpone the April 22 Sales Symposium, AdapTech until Friday, July 17, 2020. We’ve recently learned that this event will now be virtual! More info at laahu.org.
- Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Women in Insurance Regional Forums Rescheduled
IICF has rescheduled the Women in Insurance Regional Forums:
New York: October 26
Los Angeles: October 30
Dallas: November 17
- 16th Annual BenefitsPRO Broker Expo 2020 will be August 20-22
BenefitsPRO Broker Expo 2020 has been postponed to August 20-22 in Austin, Texas. More info here.
