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Bruce Jugan, President

About Bruce Jugan

Bruce is an expert in group medical insurance and employee benefits for small to mid-sized companies. He's been a licensed agent/broker since 1993. Bruce has written all of the content on BenefitsCafe.com. He and his team help employers select medical plans; communicate information to employees; stay in compliance with various rules and regulations; and solve benefits-related problems that may arise.
2013 Mar 13

Enroll in Medicare or Stay on Your Employer’s Health Plan – a Helpful Guide

By |March 13th, 2013 |Categories: Individual Medical Insurance Articles, Small Business Articles|Tags: , |

I've just written a helpful guide for people who continue to work and must decide whether they should enroll in Medicare or stay on their employer's group medical plan. It turns out that the decision is a bit complicated and the answer depends on: •who's paying for the group plan (employer or employee); •whether the employee also has dependents enrolled on the group plan; and - oddly enough - •how much the employee earns... The article is sprinkled with a few funny things - so it's not as dry as you might imagine. If you're in this situation or if you know someone who is, you should read the article. Learn more by clicking on the link above.

2013 Feb 12

Health Insurance Marketplace: the New Name for the Federal Exchange

By |February 12th, 2013 |Categories: ACA, Covered California, Health Benefit Exchange, Health Insurance Reform, Individual Medical Insurance Articles, Small Business Articles|

The Federal government has re-branded its health insurance "exchange" as the "Health Insurance Marketplace." A video on the government's web site suggests that shopping in the Health Insurance Marketplace will be as easy as buying food in a grocery store. The government makes some pretty bold claims

2013 Jan 29

Individual Coverage for Employees: Health Care Reform (ACA) May Create Opportunities for Small Businesses

By |January 29th, 2013 |Categories: Covered California, Health Benefit Exchange, Health Insurance Reform, Individual Medical Insurance Articles, Small Business Articles|

In 2014, when the new market rules take effect, a business owner may be able to choose between the small group and individual market to purchase coverage for employees... Same product in two separate markets offered at different prices. A small business owner’s arbitrage opportunity would be to purchase health insurance for employees in the market with the lowest price.

2013 Jan 28

Waive or Decline – A Huge Difference for California Small Group Health Insurance Plans under Health Care Reform(ACA)

By |January 28th, 2013 |Categories: Covered California, Health Benefit Exchange, Health Insurance Reform, Individual Medical Insurance Articles, Small Business Articles|

"The BIG, hugely impactful decision Covered California, DOI and DMHC must make is: must an insurance company consider an employee enrolled in an individual health insurance plan.. to have a valid “waiver”. or [is it] a “declination” of group coverage."

2013 Jan 11

Covered California Health Exchange Releases 2013 Report

By |January 11th, 2013 |Categories: Covered California, Health Benefit Exchange, Health Insurance Reform, Individual Medical Insurance Articles, Small Business Articles|

Covered California, the new name for the California Health Benefit Exchange, has just released a report on its activities. Addressed to the Governor and Legislature, the report describes the reasons for creating the exchange and the progress in that effort. The report states that the high cost of medical insurance is the [...]

2013 Jan 08

New Trend in Health Insurance: Hospitals and Medical Groups Becoming Insurers

By |January 8th, 2013 |Categories: Health Insurance Reform|

Sutter Health, a large medical group and hospital chain in Northern California, has applied to become an HMO/insurance company. According to this article, Sutter Health submitted its application to the California Department of Managed Care (DMHC) in August 2012. The article reports that DMHC has seen a significant increase in the number of applications to establish new [...]

2012 Dec 06

UHC Estimates Premium Increases as High as 116% in 2014 from Health Care Reform (ACA)

By |December 6th, 2012 |Categories: Health Insurance Reform, Individual Medical Insurance Articles, Small Business Articles|

United Health Care (UHC), the largest health insurance company in the US, yesterday held a webinar for agents on changes they will be making to their products to comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  This is the first time that I have seen a major carrier give specific [...]

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