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this Anthem has come to an agreement with HPN and letters have been sent to members letting them know they’ll be able to keep their HPN providers. With the fully executed Amendment, Heritage Provider Network continues to be part of the Anthem Blue Cross commercial HMO Network. All the providers below we remain in the Anthem HMO Network: HERITAGE PROVIDER NETWORK (HPN) Affiliated Doctors of Orange County Med (0ZH) Heritage Sierra Medical Group (ACG) Bakersfield Family Medical Center (0EY) High Desert Medical Group (0EZ) Bakersfield Family Medical Group Inc. (YZO) Lakeside Central Valley (0DR) Coastal Communities Physician Network (1BS) Lakeside Glendale (0SY) Coastal Communities Physicians Network-T (1CL) Lakeside Medical-Burbank/North Hollywood (0CJ) Community Med Grp of Ventura CO – IPA (0LY) Lakeside North Valley (1CP) Community Med Grp of Ventura CO- Simi Valley (0LZ) Lakeside Santa Clarita Valley (0HQ) Community Medical Group of The West Valley (0T7) Lakeside Verdugo Hills (0YW) Community Medical Group-IPA (0ZM) Regal Medical Group (0YC) Desert Oasis Healthcare (0GH) Regal-Glendale Physicians Alliance (0YP) Eastland Medical Group Inc (0HA) West Covina Medical Clinic (0T4) For More Information Or Help Quoting Anthem, Please Contact Your Dickerson Sales Rep.

The Blue Shield app has released a push notification feature directing members to real-time drug prices and lower-cost prescription options. The feature is available to all members with the Blue Shield app downloaded and push notifications turned on. How it works Members receive a push notification during or shortly after a doctor’s visit. As the doctor enters prescriptions into the system, members receive the notification indicating a new prescription is available. After tapping on the notification and logging in, the member’s pharmacy dashboard appears displaying: • Generics, brand equivalents, and other prescription alternatives. • Price comparisons across pharmacies. • Possible discounts for bulk prescription orders. If members miss the notification they can still view this information by clicking the banner on their pharmacy benefits page on the mobile app or Blue Shield website. For More Information or Help Quoting Blue Shield, Please Contact Your Dickerson Sales Representative.

Health Net’s 2026 Large Group Enhanced Choice portfolio is now refreshed and ready for you to sell! It offers the appealing "Pick Your Plan, Pick Your Network" strategy with even more of their most popular plan designs. It also has new plans to help meet the diverse needs of your large employer groups. The 2026 Enhanced Choice offerings equip you with choices designed to satisfy your clients and to help streamline your sales process. Get predictable pricing built to last, flexible plan options to pair with multiple networks and product stability that helps foster long-term client partnerships. What's New Refreshed Large Group Portfolio: Enhanced Choice will continue to utilize the "Pick Your Plan, Pick Your Network" strategy. We’ve refreshed the portfolio for 2026 with even more of our most popular plan designs and added new plans to meet the diverse needs of your employer groups. Employers can choose from 22 standard plan designs available in our existing HMO/EOA products. Infertility and Fertility Treatment Coverage: Health Net now covers infertility and fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), for eligible members. This expanded benefit offers inclusive support for individuals and couples seeking assistance in building their families. Weight Loss Drug Coverage: Health Net will implement a benefit change for weight loss medications. Effective upon 2026 group renewal, weight loss drugs will be covered only for members diagnosed with Class III severe obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher.1 We are also introducing a pharmacy rider for groups who wish to offer expanded weight loss drug coverage. Details will be shared in a separate communication. The following new plan designs will be added to the Enhanced Choice "Pick Your Plan, Pick your Network" Strategy New Deductible EOA/Salud HMO y Más Plan Designs • 50/4500/40% ($6,500 / $13,000) • 50/5500/40% ($7,500 / $15,000). New Pharmacy Plan Design • $100 / $5 / $25 / $50 Expand your sales Leverage decades of Health Net local expertise to craft the best benefits package available to fit your clients' needs. • Employers have access to robust California PPO network (for in-state services) and Cigna Healthcare PPO network for out-of-state coverage. • Budget-friendly Salud HMO y Más (Health and More) plans can be offered on a standalone basis or alongside Kaiser-only groups. • Multi-product bundling discount program helps large groups get up to 3% off their medical premiums. Plus: • Essentials to complement medical coverage, that include: Dental, Vision, Chiropractic, Acupuncture and Life. • Easy access to care with telehealth and our Nurse Advice Line. • Wellness Rewards Program, available with all plans. • Behavioral health benefits through our many in-network provider For More Information or Help Quoting Health, Please Contact Your Dickerson Sales Representative.

You can now earn even more when you enroll new small groups in Kaiser Permanente from September 1, 2025, through January 1, 2026. Earn a $1,000 reward when you enroll 25 new members — and unlock $25 for each additional member past 25. You can also earn up to $15,000 more by reaching the new level-up bonuses as you complete more small group sales. Group Production reward summary: Group Production reward- 25+ members = $1,000 + $25 per member past 25 Level-up bonus (new)- 50 members = $2,500 100 members = $5,000 150+ members = $7,500 For Details Click Here For Help Quoting Kaiser Permanente, Please Contact Your Dickerson Sales Representative.

this On June 18, 2025, a federal district court in Texas vacated a significant portion of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (“Final Rule”), which was implemented on April 24, 2024, on a nationwide basis. The Final Rule, which was implemented in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (effectively overturning Roe v. Wade), was intended to protect the ability of individuals to receive reproductive health care when the care is provided lawfully under the circumstances without risk of an individual’s identity or health information being disclosed for purposes of state criminal, civil or administrative investigations (or for imposing liability related to lawfully providing or obtaining reproductive healthcare). The Final Rule and District Court Decision Among other things, the Final Rule required group health plans, health care providers, and health care clearinghouses (collectively, “Covered Entities”) to: • Update their HIPAA Privacy policies and procedures by December 23, 2024 to meet the requirements of the Final Rule, which included updating their HIPAA staff on the new changes (and how to identify and respond to any requests that may be impacted by the Final Rule) and ensuring that the Covered Entity obtains a signed, written attestation from the requester related to any request for use or disclosure of PHI potentially related to reproductive health care requested for health oversight, judicial or administrative proceedings, law enforcement purposes, or disclosures to coroners or medical examiners. • If necessary, update their HIPAA business associates agreements by December 23, 2024, to ensure any business associates were obligated to meet these new requirements in the same manner as the Covered Entity. • Update their Notice of Privacy Practices by February 16, 2026, to notify individuals of their rights to have this information protected by the Covered Entity. The lawsuit challenging the reproductive health care privacy provisions of the Final Rule was brought by a health care practitioner in the state of Texas who believed following the Final Rule would inhibit their ability to meet other state law requirements, including mandatory reporting requirements related to child abuse. The federal district court agreed with the health care practitioner and further determined that the final rule impermissibly exceeded the scope of the Department of Health and Human Service’s authority by, among other things, expanding the definition of “person” to include unborn children. Accordingly, the district court judge vacated the reproductive health care privacy protections under the Final Rule nationwide, which prohibits the agency from enforcing these requirements of the Final Rule. The Final Rule was believed to be one of the rules, among others, which is under review pursuant to the Executive Order Directing the Repeal of Unlawful Regulations issued by President Trump in April 2025. Thus, it is unclear whether the Trump Administration will appeal this decision, though it seems unlikely. To Read More Click Here

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released Rev. Proc. 2025-25, which contains the inflation adjusted amounts for 2026 used to determine whether employer-sponsored coverage is “affordable” for purposes of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) employer shared responsibility provisions and premium tax credit program. As shown in the table below, for plan years beginning in 2026, the affordability percentage for employer mandate purposes is indexed to 9.96%. This is a significant increase from 2025. HHS used a premium growth measure provided for in the 2026 HHS Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Rule when calculating the increase. This measure will be used for the 2026 benefit year and beyond. The IRS has also released Rev. Proc. 2025-26, which contains the indexed amounts used to calculate employer shared responsibility payments (ESRP) for 2026. Under the ACA, applicable large employers (ALEs) must offer health insurance coverage to full-time employees. If an ALE does not offer coverage (or does not offer affordable coverage), it may be subject to an ESRP. An ALE is an employer that employed 50 or more full-time equivalent employees on average in the prior calendar year. Coverage is considered affordable if the employee’s required contribution for self-only coverage under the employer’s lowest-cost, minimum value plan does not exceed 9.96% of the employee’s household income in 2026 (prior years are also shown above). An ALE may rely on one or more safe harbors in determining if coverage is affordable: W-2, Rate of Pay, and Federal Poverty Level. If the employer’s coverage is not affordable under one of the safe harbors and a full-time employee is approved for a premium tax credit for Marketplace coverage, the employer may be subject to an ESRP. Since 2019, the individual mandate penalty imposed on individual taxpayers for failure to have qualifying health coverage was reduced to $0 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, effectively repealing the federal individual mandate. A previous lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ACA due to this change to the individual mandate penalty was unsuccessful. The employer mandate has not been repealed, and the IRS continues to enforce it through Letter 226J. The IRS is currently enforcing employer shared responsibility payments for tax year 2023 as well as enforcing the reporting requirement itself. The IRS aggressively enforces the ACA reporting requirement, notifying applicable large employers via Letter 5699 if the IRS has not received the employer’s form 1094-C and forms 1095-C. To Read More Click Here