I posted this Consumer Reports article yesterday in response to a friend who was pissed off about people losing their health insurance plans. The reason is because of junk insurance. There was a response from one of her friends stating Try paying $1049.00 a month on a fixed income and then hearing they are probably going to raise it on you to pay for the Obutthole plan! My response: Im guessing its the insurance company telling you that, because to come up to the minimum standard of coverage they have to add coverage. (Id be interested to know what your insurance company is and the deductibles, co-pays, coverage limits, etc. are. If its going up, its because they dont provide adequate coverage.) Ive heard that before from others, like the 3 couples that were interviewed on Hannity. When a reporter followed up with the 3 couples he found out two of the couples refused to look at the exchanges (for ideology reasons) and when the reporter checked the website using the couples info, he found they would actually save hundreds with better coverage. One couple couldnt even cover one of their children previously (who had a pre-existing condition) and with the ACA that child is covered and the premiums are much LESS than they were paying before WITHOUT that child on the policy. (Also, the couple that stated they were not hiring because of ACA only had 4 employees anyway; ACA doesnt apply to employers with less than 50 employees.) I dont know what state you are in (WA?). Have you tried looking at the exchanges? If you are on a fixed income, you likely qualify for subsidies, or even for the Medicaid expansion. Try this link as a guestimate of what you might qualify for in subsidies. laborcenter.berkeley.edu/healthpolicy/calculator/ Better still would be some actual examples from a working exchange. Go to CoverOregon exchange website and see what is available in OR (similar coverage may be available in WA since its doing its own exchange that isnt quite up yet). To give you an example, a single person (50 years old, non-tribal, non-smoker) with $15,850 income qualified for the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid expansion). Then entering $15,900 (not qualifying for OHP) winds up with an estimate of $2,849/yr or $237/monthly before the tax credit is applied (plan must be silver level or higher for tax credit). Then it lists 5 pages of silver or gold level plans (after unchecking the bronze box). They go from $121.00 to $382.78 per month after the tax credit. They list coverage limits and are rated with up to 4 stars so you can compare them. For instance, the first silver one by Moda Health costs $121/month after TC, has a 3 star rating, individual/family deductible of $1,500/$3,000 and out-of-pocket maximums of $5,000/$10,000. If you qualify for APTC (advance payment of premium tax credits) the amount will be applied right away and sent directly to the insurance company each month to reduce the premium. Id be interested to know how your current insurance and the ones listed on the exchange compare. Im still waiting for a reply.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 20:38:27 +0000
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