October 2021
Market Report
Oregon and Washington
Industry News

  • Individual Health Insurance Open Enrollment for 2022 runs Monday, November 1, 2021–Saturday, January 15, 2022. Enroll by December 15, 2021 for coverage that starts January 1, 2022.
  • Medicare Advantage Annual Election Period Oct 15 to Dec 7
  • Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
  • Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement (MediGap) Plans
  • Compliance Advisory for Employers
  • 1095 Tax Forms
Agency News
Individual Health Insurance Open Enrollment for 2022 runs Monday, November 1, 2021–Saturday, January 15, 2022
Get ready to apply for Health Insurance coverage or renew the plan you have. Starting November 1st, you'll update your 2022 application with any changes you expect for the year ahead, including income updates and household information on your 2022 application, so you get the right amount of savings.

Starting November 1st, you can view 2022 individual Oregon Health and Dental Plans HERE. Plans and prices change every year. You may automatically enroll for 2022, but it is recommended to review the new year options first. If you purchased your plan through the Washington Health Plan Finder, then you can log in to your WHPF account to view 2022 plans and rates HERE. If you purchased your health insurance directly from your plan, then you will receive a renewal notice and can renew your plan with continued premium payments if the new plan and rates meet you approval. Call our office and schedule a phone appointment with our agents if you want assistance with plan review and renewal for 2022.
Medicare Advantage Annual Election Period Oct 15 to Dec 7
The Medicare Advantage Annual Election period for 2022 is from Oct. 15, to Dec. 7, 2021. During the Medicare Advantage Annual Election period, you can make changes to your Medicare health and drug coverage that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Specifically, you can make changes to:

  • Original Medicare to a Medicare Advantage plan
  • A Medicare Advantage plan to Original Medicare
  • One Medicare Advantage plan to another
  • One Medicare Part D drug plan to another
Small Business Health Care Tax Credit
This popular program continues to give qualified for profit employers up to 50% of their premium contribution back as a tax credit if they purchase a qualified health plan from a certified carrier, have fewer than 25 employees, and have an average employee gross salary below about $53,000 not including owner salary. The income guidelines for eligibility has been adjusted for inflation annually by about $1,000, so the 2022 tax credit income guidelines may be closer to about $57,000. Not for profit organizations may be eligible for 35% tax credit. The tax credit can last for 24 months and does not need to be taken consecutively. There are a lot of qualified plan options to select form. We can help you purchase a qualified small business health plan, and then we can order the plan certification letter from the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace for you to give to your tax preparer to get the tax credit on your next business tax return filing. Review the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit Estimator HERE.
Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement Plans
According to the US Census Bureau, there are about 10,000 people turning age 65 in the US daily, and most of them will be enrolling in a Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plan or a Medicare Supplement (MediGap) Plan with a Prescription Drug Plan. We offer numerous carriers for your Medicare Advantage, Supplement, and Pharmacy needs and are ready to help you with your planning, education, plan reviews, provider network review, prescription drug review, enrollment, ongoing Medicare services, and annual election period support. We recommend contacting us about 6 months before you turn age 65, so we can give you the information and services you need to enroll in the Medicare plan that meets your needs. Check out our Medicare website and let us know when you are ready to review Medicare.
Compliance Advisory for Employers
This is a topic mainly for Employers, Benefit Managers, and Human Resource Professionals. Compliance is a broad term and is used in the health insurance industry, and with retirement plans and other employer sponsored health & welfare benefit programs. In the context of health insurance and benefits, compliance includes communicating to employees about their benefits and their rights, or other important information that the government wants employers to provide to employees.

Compliance may require employers to send notifications to employees, and maintain certain signed documents. There are numerous requirements and some of the requirements include; Affordable Care Act Exchange Marketplace Notice, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Wrap Document, Medicare Part D creditable or non-creditable Pharmacy Notice, COBRA notices, Summary of Benefits and Coverage, and other notices. Compliance is the company owners personal responsibility, even if they have support staff, payroll companies, professional administrators or insurance agents helping. We encourage employers to take the initiative to achieve proper compliance status, due to the high cost of government fines, penalties, and business disruption that can come from non-compliance. Check out our compliance website and let us know how we can help you with compliance.
1095 Tax Forms
We have access to 1095-A tax forms and can usually get copies to you quickly. Let us know if you need your 1095-A tax forms to complete your taxes.
Agency News


  • WiredEnroll is our new small employer quoting and enrollment system. If you are a small employer and want quick turn around for small group health plan rates, live web based spreadsheet comparisons, and online web based enrollment, then we can help you with easy online small group reviews and enrollment.

  • HealthSherpa is our individual health and dental shopping and enrollment service. Check out our individual health and dental shopping site here. When you use our eligibility, shopping and enrollment website, be sure to watch for any emails from noreply@healthsherpa.com for information and information about your quotes, or enrollment activity.

  • Customer Ratings & Reviews for Laughlin Insurance. Our customers have been giving us Five Star Reviews.

Program Spotlight
Coredocuments.com is a compliance document vendor for employers. They provide ERISA Wrap Document, 125b Pre-tax program services, and other compliance services for employers for reasonable one-time fees. There are a lot of administrators that offer different levels of service and fees, but Core Documents is an affordable solution for your compliance needs. We can help employers with Core Document programs and setup. Read more about Core Documents here.
What we are reading
Connect with Laughlin Insurance
Paris Laughlin, President, Agent
(503) 936-0891 Cell

Stuart Ouellette, Agent
(503) 730-9022 Cell

Rachel Laughlin, Agent

Katie Ostgarden, Office Assistant

503-282-0827 Office | (503) 282-0830 Fax | (877) 779-0788 Toll-Free

Laughlin Insurance Market Report is a periodic publication featuring the latest news of interest to employer, individual, and Medicare health insurance consumers throughout Oregon and Washington. Laughlin Insurance - Since 1997.
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