Author: Sherie Bryan

4 New Studies Show Obamacare Is Working Incredibly Well

By Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine, Dec. 4, 2014

The overall goal of the law was to gradually reverse the two most perverse facts about the U.S. health-care system: Its overall cost has exploded, and it denies access to tens of millions of people. Four major new sources of information have come out this week, all of which have further demonstrated the law’s success.1. Increasing access to the uninsured. The law was never going to ensure that every single American had insurance. President Obama promised, in the face of political pressure, not to extend its coverage to non-citizens, who make up about one fifth of the uninsured population. The Supreme Court decided to allow states to boycott the law’s Medicaid expansion, adding some 4 million more to the ranks of the uninsured. Also, any new law takes years to ramp up participation and public awareness.

Conservatives widely denied that the law would even succeed at its basic goal of increasing access to health insurance. Obamacare “created more uninsured people than it gave insurance to. And it promises to create even more,” argued National Review’s Jonah Goldberg. Fox News panelist Charles Krauthammer proclaimed the law would result in “essentially the same number of uninsured.”

Every serious method of measuring has shown the law effecting significant reductions in the uninsured rate. Continue reading “The Affordable Care Act is a Stunning Success”

The ACA Healthcare Marketplace opened this last Saturday. The software is much more usable than last year. The actual application is much easier to do. The application part is not, however, the most important part. Picking out the best health insurance plan is the hard part. There is a sad lacking of full disclosure on Healthcare.gov regarding the actual plans. There is so much to decide. That’s where a NC Marketplace Certified Health insurance agent is invaluable. Continue reading “Why Use an NC Health Insurance Agent for the ACA Marketplace”

For many of you, the renewal letters may be in the mail today. The following is some general guidelines on how to renew these existing plans as published by BCBSNC on their blog.

• A GRANDFATHERED HEALTH PLAN (one that was purchased before 3/23/2010, you can keep this plan but must renew the plan with no plan design changes.  You can alternatively select a new plan for 1/1/2015 which will be written/priced in accordance to the rules of the Affordable Care Act.
•  A NON GRANDFATHERED PLAN PURCHASED BEFORE SEPTEMBER 2013, you can renew for 2015 without any plan design changes.  You can alternatively select a new plan for 1/1/2015 which will be written/priced in accordance to the rules of the Affordable Care Act.
•  A HEALTHCARE.GOV AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE PLAN that you purchased after 1/1/2014, you will be receiving a letter from your carrier that will give you your current plans new rate/ plan design. You can talk to your carrier directly to change plans within the same company. If you want to change companies, you need to call your agent.
• IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY NOT ENROLLED FOR HEALTH COVERAGE OR WILL BE LOOSING YOUR GROUP HEALTH COVERAGE AS OF 12/31/2014 you can enroll for coverage between 11/15/2014 to 2/15/2015.  Please note that to have coverage by 1/1/2015, you must be signed up by 12/15/2014.
• IF YOU ARE NOT BUYING HEALTH INSURANCE either because the price is to expensive or you don’t want it, be aware that once 2/15/2015 passes you cannot get health insurance unless you have a special qualifying event – marriage, birth, loss of group health coverage.
• Individual Mandate Penalty: In addition, as of 4/15/2016, you will pay an individual penalty for not having qualified health coverage of 2% of your income or $325 whichever is greater. ( Please be aware that you don’t have to pay the individual penalty if you can not afford health care because of the financial hardship.  You will need to submit a 2014 individual hardship waiver with your 2014 taxes.)

As always, we are here to help if you have any questions.  Health Plans Raleigh  (919) 977-1272

 

I am re-posting an article on the family glitch. This is a question I am getting asked about frequently. This article gives a clear understanding of the problem and where legislation stands to fix the problem. This article was posted Jun 8, 2014 on YourHealthSecurity.org.

Obamacare has helped more than 8 million Americans get affordable health care coverage to date and introduced an array of new consumer protections like ending discrimination based on your health history. Attention is now shifting to remaining health reform issues like closing the coverage gap in states that didn’t expand Medicaid and bringing down the overall cost of health care.

But there’s a lesser known and urgently needed improvement that is leaving family members without an affordable option for coverage.

This so-called “family glitch” affects people who depend on a spouse’s or parent’s employer sponsored insurance but find that option unaffordable. The glitch? Obamacare’s measure of affordability says it is affordable.

Under the Affordable Care Act, employer-sponsored coverage is deemed affordable if it doesn’t cost more than 9.5% of the employee’s family income. If coverage costs more, then that employee is eligible to receive tax credit subsidies to buy health insurance at healthcare.gov or the state’s marketplace.  These tax credits help families quite high up the income stream- a family of four, for example, might qualify with income up to $94,000 a year.

But as IRS interpreted it, the affordability measure only applies to the employee cost, not dependents, meaning that the cost of putting dependents on your employer’s health insurance doesn’t factor into the calculation. So even if the total cost to cover an employee and dependents through employer coverage is more than 9.5% of total family income, but the cost of employee-only coverage is less than 9.5%, that spouse or child can’t simply forego the insurance and seek discounted coverage in the Marketplace.  Proportionately, employers make a much smaller contribution to the cost of family coverage, making this especially burdensome for employees.

The glitch leaves families deciding whether to pay the ever increasing amount required to add dependents on at work, buy coverage on their own without any financial assistance, or simply remain uninsured. Up to 500,000 children could be affected by the family glitch.

Yesterday, Senator Franken introduced the Family Coverage Act to close this loophole. The bill changes the definition of affordability to allow family members who are not offered affordable employer-sponsored coverage to access tax credit subsidies in the health insurance marketplace. Consumers Union has advocated for a fix to this glitch since passage of the Affordable Care Act and we applaud Senator Franken for taking this important step. Continue reading “Family Glitch Update”

Marketplace Certified Health Insurance Agents are licensed by the state of NC and are authorized by each health insurance company. Agents can tell you all the details about the actual health insurance plans. Navigators cannot help you pick actual insurance plans or tell you more than just general terms in a health insurance plan. When you call Healthcare.gov you are talking to a navigator not an agent. We think picking the right health insurance plan is the most important part! Continue reading “Difference B/t a Navigator and a Health Insurance Agent”

Many people who do not have health insurance now in NC are afraid to apply because they think individual health insurance in NC will be too expensive. The reality is over 70% of people will qualify for a tax subsidy which will make that health insurance surprisingly affordable for most families.

What are the rules to be eligible for a tax subsidy in NC? They are as follows:

• Be between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL). FPL is the amount of income that determines the poverty threshold and is based on the number of members in your household.
• Not eligible for public coverage, such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare or military coverage.
• Not have access to insurance through an employer or it costs more than 9.5% of his or her income.
• You must be a US citizen, a US National or a legal US resident who files a tax return.

You may be surprised who qualifies. A family of four with an annual income of as much as $95,400 may receive a subsidy. The chart below shows the ranges for 2015:

We did not expand Medicaid in NC so if you are under $11,670/yr. income you will not qualify for a subsidy. You may be eligible to apply for Medicaid.

If you would like a free quote for anywhere in NC, just give us a call. Our experienced NC health insurance agents would love to help. (919) 977-1272. We will walk you through the process and make it easy for you to apply for individual health insurance for you and your family.

Health Plans Raleigh and NC

(919) 977-1272

 

 

Vague language within Obamacare will result in nearly 2 million Americans being unable to afford health insurance, according to a new report by the American Action Forum (AAF).

The so-called “family glitch” occurs when an individual is offered health insurance through their employer but the plan is not extended to the rest of their family. Due to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) interpretation of the law, other immediate family members are not eligible to receive subsidies for insurance, even if their income is below the federal poverty level. Continue reading “The Family Glitch in the ACA”

Moving into a new state is a busy time. Moving into a new house, starting a new job, enrolling kids in new schools. All of these things are time consuming and stressful. Updating your health insurance should also be high on this list of things to do.

If you qualify for a Healthcare Marketplace plan you can still apply even though we are now outside of the enrollment period. (The next enrollment period is Nov. 15, 2014 to Feb 15^th, 2015). Moving into another state is a special qualifying event, so you have sixty days from the date you move to enroll and qualify for subsidized health insurance. If you miss this window you will have to wait for the next open enrollment period and you may be subject to the tax penalty.

We know that this process of applying for health insurance can be confusing and time consuming. Agents are free to use, get you the same rates as if you did it yourself but we insure you get the best plan for you at the best price. It’s our job to do all the research and make this as easy as possible for you and your family.

We can help make your move to North Carolina less stressful. Just call us to learn about your health insurance options in North Carolina, find a health insurance plan that’s right for your family, and enroll in affordable insurance today. We look forward to helping you!

We are now entering the final weeks of the Affordable Healthcare Marketplace enrollment period for 2014. It will be ending on March 31, 2014. That means two important things.

If you are not enrolled in a qualified health plan by March 31, 2014 you will be subject to a tax penalty. This is the Individual Mandate. Continue reading “The Final Weeks of the Health Insurance Marketplace”