North Bay Business Journal

WellPoint, one of the nation’s largest health insurers and the parent company of Blue Shield, has withdrawn a Medicare Advantage health plan that enrolled 1,252 persons in Sonoma County, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Sutter Health, which operates a number of North Bay hospitals and other care services, has filed plans with the state to launch its own health maintenance organization by 2014 and aims to offer a commercial health plan to employer groups.

Wineries across Sonoma and Napa counties will keep employee benefits largely in place, although they are increasingly resorting to consumer-driven health plans to keep costs in line, they contribute more to employee deductibles compared to other industries, according to recent survey by insurance broker Woodruff Sawyer & Company.

SANTA ROSA — Vantreo Insurance Brokerage has acquired Hodges Insurance Services, an independent agency run by longtime Santa Rosa employee benefits specialist David Hodges, in a move that reflects increasing consolidation among smaller brokerages in the professional services sector.

NORTH BAY — As employers continue to grapple with ever-increasing health care costs — with or without federal health care reform — those with fewer than 100 employees are increasingly looking for affordable options, with the idea of partial self-funding gaining traction in the past few years, insurance experts said.

The Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 signed into law last September provides a tax break for the self-employed on health care costs.

NORTH BAY – Health insurance premiums for business owners in 2011 will rise anywhere from 9 percent to 55 percent.

This year many California employers are paying a higher rate per $100 of payroll for workers’ comp insurance for the first time since 2003. Analysis from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) indicates that the average rate paid during the first quarter of 2010 was up 5 percent from a year ago.

NORTH BAY — Throughout the health care reform debate, employers and employees alike were told they’d be able to keep their current health plans, if so desired. With the unveiling of details on the so-called “grandfathering” clause by the Department of Health and Human Services, however, brokers said such a prospect seems slim, and employers will face a series of tough choices regarding what type of plan they choose to offer employees as they attempt to grapple with still-rising costs.

A recently completed benchmark survey that tracks insurance costs for Bay Area companies found that wineries in the North Bay spend significantly less on employee benefits while contributing more to employee premiums than other companies in other industries.

NORTH BAY — Congress extended the 65 percent reduction in COBRA health premiums for unemployed workers, set to expire Dec. 31, 2009, and increased the maximum period for receiving the subsidy from nine to 15 months for workers laid off up until Feb. 28, 2010.

NOVATO — Sutter Health has contributed $10 million to the Marin Community Foundation to establish the Sutter Health Access to Care Fund. The partnership between the two organizations aims to increase the availability of primary care health services to uninsured and underinsured Marin County residents that rely on the county’s community clinics as a health care safety net.

NORTH BAY – Perhaps now more than ever, insurance is an industry of many moving pieces. Where one sector surges the other might subside. Local brokers and industry experts sounded off last week on trends in the market as well as rising topics, including fire, high-deductible plans and long-term care products.