Have You Heard About AB731? It’s Changing Everything!

And you might just like it.
On September 19, 2019 our California Legislature passed a bill called AB-731 Health care coverage: Rate Review.
Hardly anyone noticed, but this is about to change lives in the Employee Benefits world for one seemingly small reason… Timing.
In the past, medical carriers were required to send out renewals within either 60 or 90 days prior to the renewal, depending on if it was a Small Group or Large Group case.
In both cases, this meant that the moment we received the renewals was the equivalent to the starting bell of a race.
We have always had to RACE to get quotes from all available carriers, do an in depth quote analysis, make an appointment with the client to review the results, give them time to make an educated decision, set up a time to meet with the employees and educate them on the upcoming changes, give employees ample time to make educated choices, communicate those individual choices to the carriers, with plenty of time to spare so that the carriers can process those changes and issue new ID cards all before that big anniversary date. If that sentence seemed long, it’s because it was. The amount of actions that need to take place in a timely fashion, in order for a renewal to go smoothly, is a lot! And, making a renewal a smooth process for a client is one very important aspect of our job as Advisors!
So what changed? One aspect of this bill is that it is requiring large group carriers to send out renewals 120 days in advance (beginning July 1). 4 months, which is a whole extra month! We are so excited about this change because guess what? We are still going to race when we get that renewal.
We are still going to shoot it out to market and shop with all available carriers, to ensure we are getting you the best program available. We will simply now have the luxury of 30 more days wherein- you can make an educated decision, and your employees have more time to make educated choices for themselves.
Carriers are not required to make this same change in regards to Small Group policies, however guess what we’re seeing? Earlier release of Small Group renewals! To be clear, carriers are not saying they are going to change their policy in regards to Small Group renewal release dates however, we are definitely seeing it happen more often on the street.
So what does this mean to you? This year, you might see your renewal before your Broker does, because the carriers are a little confused and out of order trying to comply with this law. And the good news is, you and your broker have more time to shop, more time to review, more time to roll out programs, more time to communicate.
Can you imagine a world where we all have more time? That would change everything, wouldn’t it? So let’s do this! Email us to start your review for 2020 or contact us online via the button below for assistance!