Company news: Maura J. O’Toole takes on Medicare advising for FitzGibbons Agency
Updated Feb 04, 2021;
Maura J. O’Toole, a licensed agent.
O’Toole joined the agency in 2018 as a licensed property and casualty commercial lines service representative. She previously held a license in life, accident and health for more than 20 years.
As a newly accredited Medicare advisor, she will help customers understand their Medicare product choices and navigate them through the enrollment process. O’Toole holds the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) certification and has access to all of the top insurance carriers.
She is based out of the agency’s Baldwinsville satellite office,
HHS further delays Trump-era drug rebate rule
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The Trump-era drug rebate rule won t fully take effect until at least Jan. 1, 2023, according to a court filing on Friday.
The Biden administration last week delayed the regulation s effective date until March 22. But HHS didn t change the Jan. 1, 2022, start date for changes to the policy s safe harbor protections the rule s key provision. Now federal regulators have agreed to put off those changes for another year in response to an ongoing lawsuit by the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. We are encouraged by this important first step in ensuring this bad policy does not go into effect. The delay will provide a much-needed pause to allow the administration ample opportunity to better understand the rebate rule s harmful impact on millions of Americans, America s Health Insurance Plans CEO Matt Eyles said in a statement.
Biden to reopen ACA marketplace, revisit work requirements
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President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered HHS to create a special enrollment period to allow people to sign up for a health plan through Affordable Care Act marketplaces and reexamine policies like Medicaid work requirements that make it more difficult for individuals to access or afford coverage.
HHS will allow individuals to enroll in coverage through HealthCare.gov from Feb. 15 to May 15. Ordinarily, signing up for an exchange plan is tightly restricted outside a six-week period late each year. The SEP will be offered to consumers applying for new coverage or updating an existing application through HealthCare.gov, the marketplace call center or through direct enrollment channels. Coverage is prospective, with coverage beginning the first day of the month following the date of plan selection, HHS said in a statement.
If you re having trouble paying for your medications, Drug Company X may be able to help.
You may have heard sentences like this at the end of pharmaceutical ads on television, and some clinicians may wonder what exactly the companies do to help their patients. The help usually comes in the form of what drugmakers call a copay coupon or copay assistance card for, say, $50 that the patient can present at the pharmacy counter to lower the amount they have to pay for their prescription.
Insurers are notified when their patients use copay coupons, and many of them use the data to compile copay accumulator records for enrollees. Often, insurers won t allow the money paid by drugmakers to count toward the patient s deductible or out-of-pocket costs.