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GOVERNMENT RULES & REGULATIONS
Get Ready to Comply with License Number Law
Insurance producers will be required to include their license number on emails, starting Jan. 1, 2023. The new law will require most types of insurance producers, as well as independent insurance adjusters, public insurance adjusters, and analysts, to include their license number on emails.
(California Insurance Code section 1725.5, as amended by Senate Bill 1242 [Committee on Insurance, Chapter 424, Statutes of 2022])
This Notice answers some of the most common questions about the new law.
The law applies to individuals and organizations licensed as: (see link for full list)
- Life agents
- Accident and health or sickness agents
- Personal lines agents
- Life and disability insurance analysts
California Stockpiles Penalties From Uninsured Instead of Lowering Care Costs
California is collecting hundreds of millions of dollars a year in tax penalties from uninsured residents. The state was supposed to use the money to help lower costs for Californians who couldn’t afford insurance but hasn’t distributed any of the revenue it has collected — citing uncertain economic times. Read more here.
GROUP HEALTH 
Sponsored by Word and Brown
Fixing the Family Glitch: What Final Rule on Family Affordability Means for Employers
The “family glitch” arose when the IRS released clarification of regulations related to the affordability requirements of coverage offered by employers with 50 or more full-time workers or equivalents, also referred to as ALE’s. The great news for employers is that this change does not mean a direct increase in cost for them. With the fix, family members who are offered unaffordable job-based family coverage will be newly eligible for subsidized marketplace coverage. Want to know more? Link here.
IRS Adjusts Health FSA and Other 2023 Benefit Limits
The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2022-38, which increases the health flexible spending account (FSA) salary reduction contribution limit to $3,050 for plan years beginning in 2023, an increase of $200 from 2022. Click Here to Read the Whitepaper
MEDICARE
Sponsored by AGA
New $35 Cap on Insulin Costs
Medicare Plan Finder Likely Won’t Note New $35 Cap
In August, Congress approved a $35 cap on what seniors will pay for insulin, but that change came too late to add to the online tool that helps Medicare beneficiaries compare dozens of drug and medical plans. Federal officials say beneficiaries who use insulin will have the opportunity to switch plans after open enrollment ends Dec. 7. Find out more.
Look Up Your Hospital: Is It Being Penalized By Medicare?
Each year, Medicare punishes hospitals that have high rates of readmissions and high rates of infections and patient injuries. Check out which hospitals have been penalized. Read full story.
Medicare Advantage Close to Becoming Predominant Way Medicare Beneficiaries Get Health Coverage and Care
As Medicare Advantage continues to grow, a gradual but significant reshaping of the Medicare program is taking place.
A new KFF analysis finds that nearly half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries — 28.4 million out of 58.6 million Medicare beneficiaries overall — are now enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. That represents a more than doubling of the share of the eligible Medicare population enrolled in such plans from 2007 to 2022 (19% to 48%). Enrollment is projected to cross the 50 percent threshold as soon as next year, making Medicare Advantage the predominant way that Medicare beneficiaries with Parts A and B get their coverage and care. Read more here.
ANNUITIES
Sponsored by TWH Annuities & Insurance Marketing, Inc.
How Fixed Indexed Annuities Can Help Provide Certainty for Retirees
Helping health brokers offer new solutions
Market volatility, inflation and an evolving interest rate environment could send many consumers to their financial professionals to reevaluate their retirement strategies. Those seeking greater security may be interested in learning about fixed indexed annuities, which have a unique combination of features that are beneficial to retirees. FIAs help many individuals approach retirement with equanimity, less concerned with volatile markets or outliving their assets and more willing to pursue growth opportunities. Dive deeper.
Contact: www.twhagency.com 800-200-9194
EMPLOYEE TRENDS
Time to ditch the 9-to-5 workday
Being able to choose when we work may be far more important than where.
Employees with flexible schedules report 29% higher productivity and 53% greater ability to focus than those with set hours, according to the Slack Future Forum’s latest research, which surveyed more than 10,000 desk workers around the world. Workers who chose where they worked were 4% more productive than their fully in-person counterparts. The labor market remains hot, and if companies take away flexibility, their workers can walk and look for new jobs. Employees who can’t set their own hours are twice as likely to look for new jobs as those who can. Read more at Axios.
MENTAL HEALTH
TikTok Doc
Teens and Young Adults Self-Diagnosing Mental Illness On TikTok. What Could Go Wrong?
On the positive side, the TikTok videos (or postings on other social media sites) can give people insight into themselves and propel them to seek professional help, experts say. If you look for it, it’s even possible to find content from actual mental health experts, and all this attention on mental health is bringing what was once a taboo subject into the light. But too often, experts say, suggestible people mistake having one or two symptoms with having the disorder itself. Boston Globe via KFF.org
Darker Days Are Coming. Don’t Let Them Get You Down.
Changes in your diet, morning rituals and the Danish approach to creating a warm atmosphere can help combat the winter blues, say doctors and therapists
For people dreading the approach of shorter days and fewer hours of sunlight, now is the time to prepare your body to fend off the winter blues. Many of us notice a natural turndown in mood as the brain responds to less daylight in the winter, especially in the northern part of the country, says Kelly Rohan, professor of psychological science at the University of Vermont, who researches seasonal affective disorder. You might have a dip in energy levels, want to sleep more or crave more carbohydrate-heavy foods, she says.Dive deeper: WSJ: How To Prevent Winter Depression
TECH NEWS
Telehealth Establishes Permanent Role in U.S. Healthcare Delivery
Sustained telehealth adoption cements it as a prominent and lasting method of care delivery across various geographies, patient demographics, and clinical service areas.
Telehealth now accounts for 10% of all outpatient visits, compared to 1% prior to the pandemic, demonstrating that it’s a permanent and important fixture in U.S. healthcare delivery, according to analysis by Chartis and Kythera Labs of millions of claims between 2020 and 2022. Dive deeper here.
YOUR GOOD HEALTH
Five Ways to Feel Like You’re Doing Enough
Here are some strategies to reduce self-criticism and feel more productive.
By Rachel Goldsmith Turow for Greater Good Magazine
It’s easy to criticize yourself for not getting enough done, but that can just make things worse. People who engage in self-criticism tend to be more depressed, which in turn tends to go along with lower productivity.
What’s the alternative to living in the mental space of “I’m not doing enough?” Several strategies can reduce your self-judgment and increase your satisfaction about your accomplishments. In my new book, The Self-Talk Workout, I describe these skills in detail, including reflections from college students who have implemented them as part of the psychology classes I teach at Seattle University.
1. Spot the success
2. Act before you feel like it
3. Chunking
4. This moment matters
5. Distinguish doing “Enough with a capital ‘E’” from doing “enough with a little ‘e’”
Discover more.
INDUSTRY CALENDAR
WEBINARS
- Dec. 1, 11:30 – 1:30 pm PST: WIFS: Tax Year In Review and What’s Coming in 2023. Contact Janet Fishman: janet@wifs-losangeles.org
- Dec. 6, 10 am PST: JorgensenHR free Labor Law Update webinar. Register.
- Goldmine! Guardian Life + Spring Health Mental Wellness Webinar Series. Online live, and on demand. Next up: Dec. 14, 9 am PST, Grief & Loss: Productively processing strong emotions. Register
CONFERENCES
- Dec. 1, EBRI 2022 Retirement Summit, Washington D.C. Online & in person. Register
- Dec. 19-21, Money 2.0 Conference, White Wing CEO Joshua Schneeloch will present along with other experts. Las Vegas. Details
2023 EVENTS
- Jan. 24, 10:00 AM to 1:00 pm PST, NAHU Live Virtual Corporate Wellness Certification. Register
- Feb. 23, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm PST by Zoom, 70th Annual Will G. Farrell Award & Leadership Recognition Event, sponsored by NAIFA-LA and FSP. Info: janet@wifs-losangeles.org
- Mar. 4, 9:00 am to 1:30 pm PST, by zoom: WIFS-LA Women’s Forum “Embrace Empowerment” Early Registration Discount thru Dec. 31, 2022. Register
- March 13-15, Ellevate Women’s Leadership 2023 Summit, JW Marriott just outside Las Vegas. Register here.
- May 8-10, 2023 CAHIP Capitol Summit, Sacramento. Info.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
November California Broker Print Magazine articles
