Deductibles

What are Health Insurance Deductibles?

Just like car insurance, health insurance also has deductibles. When you purchase health insurance part of your preferences that you choose will be the amount of deductible you will have on your plan.

Deductibles defined:

The amount you owe for health care services your health insurance or plan covers before your health insurance or plan begins to pay. For example, if your deductible is $1,000, your plan won’t pay anything until you’ve met your $1,000 deductible for covered health care services subject to the deductible. The deductible may not apply to all services.

Source: "Glossary." HealthCare.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

Open Enrollment is over- so now what?

Boy are we glad march 31st has come and gone. For those of you who did not get a chance to purchase health insurance- don't fear! If you started an application in any way on the Nevada health Link website, you have a special enrollment for the next 60 days and will be able to complete a brand new application and finish! I highly recommend calling us and getting help so we can do it right though.
For those who didn't start an application, would rather not deal with the exchange (we don't blame you), you can still enroll in health insurance with us outside the exchange. If you have a qualifying event (I will explain later what these are) you can have coverage start the month following when you sign up as long as you sign up before the 15th of the month. If you do not have a qualifying event, then we can still get you insurance, but there is a 90 day wait. This only applies to Nevada Residents though. The 90 day wait is calculated as 90 days from the first of the month following enrollment. That means if you sign up today (April) you can have your coverage start Aug 1.
Qualifying events are basically life events where you went through a change. You either lost your other coverage from work, lost your job, got divorced, or moved out of the service area. If you get married and want to enroll with your spouse or had a new baby, you also get a special enrollment. If you are a member of a Native American Tribe you can enroll anytime and get those special enrollments all year long!

ObamaCare Special Enrollments

ObamaCare Special Enrollment Period

A special enrollment period time outside of the open enrollment period when you and your family can sign up for health insurance. You may qualify for a special enrollment period of 60 days following certain life events that involve a change in family status (for example, marriage or birth of a child) or loss of other health coverage.

If you don’t have a special enrollment period, you can’t buy insurance inside or outside the Marketplace until the next open enrollment period. Job-based plans generally allow special enrollment periods of 30 days.

The following life events will generally qualify you for a special enrollment period.

• Getting married
• Having, adopting, or placement of a child
• Permanently moving to a new area that offers different health plan options
• Losing other health coverage (for example due to a job loss, divorce, loss of eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP, expiration of COBRA coverage, or a health plan being decertified). Note: Voluntarily quitting other health coverage or being terminated for not paying your premiums are not considered loss of coverage. Losing coverage that is not minimum essential coverage is also not considered loss of coverage.)
• For people already enrolled in Marketplace coverage, having a change in income or household status that affects eligibility for tax credits or cost-sharing reductions

Source: "ObamaCare Facts: Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance Marketplace." ObamaCare Facts: Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance Marketplace. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

ObamaCare Deadlines

ObamaCare Deadlines

There are a few important ObamaCare deadlines everyone needs to know. Here is a quick breakdown of important ObamaCare deadlines for signing up for health insurance.

• "Short Coverage Gap" Exemption(s) Update: Although the "short coverage gap" exemption allows you up to three months in a row without coverage in 2014, healthcare.gov has stated folks have until March 31st, 2014 to enroll in a marketplace plan and still avoid the fee (due to an additional exemption which covers April). So you could enroll on March 31st and have coverage that starts on May 1st and still avoid being responsibility for the shared responsibility payment.

• March 31st, 2014 - Open enrollment for 2014 ends on March 31st, 2014. You can still sign up for off-marketplace insurance or Medicaid after open enrollment. Medicaid can even start up to two months retroactively while private insurance typically starts on the 1st of the following month if purchased before the 15th.

• Certain life events like having a child or moving out of state can qualify you for a special enrollment period that allows you to purchase marketplace insurance outside of open enrollment with federal subsidies.

• November 1st, 2014 - Open enrollment for 2015 begins for both individuals and small business portions of the marketplace. Small businesses have been eligible for tax credits for insuring employees since 2010. This must be done with the aid of an agent using a paper form for 2010-2014. Tax credits are retroactive. Learn more about ObamaCare and small business.

• January 1st, 2015 - Large employers must start to offer health insurance to full-time employees. Learn more about the "employer mandate".

Source: "ObamaCare Facts: Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance Marketplace." ObamaCare Facts: Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance Marketplace. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.

ObamaCare, deadlines, subsidies, and taxes

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We did our first Google Hangout today about the healthcare reform. The deadline to enroll is fast approaching and we think people need to know what is going on, especially those who procrastinated.

The end of open enrollment

We still have another month to go, but we are getting calls from people wanting to know when the last day to enroll is. If you want to get any government assistance and you enroll by March 15, your coverage will start April 1. If you enroll after that, your coverage won't start until may 1 and your last day to enroll is march 31.
We have been very fortunate to have Health Plan of Nevada and Sierra Health allow people to enroll for effective dates up until the very last day of the month. That means we are still taking applications for March 1 for them up until February 28. These plans will not get any government assistance, but the rates are good and plans even better. All other insurance companies are keeping with the 15th of the month final enrollment dates.
The Nevada Health Link website is still having issues showing payment information. Delays are still expected with getting cards. Just be patient and know the system is going to work. I am finding that doctors and hospitals are getting more and more of these cases where people paid and they show covered without cards. Some places are accepting your health link printout proving you are insured and will hopefully take you knowing you have insurance. Make sure and follow up when you do get cards, otherwise you will be on the line for 100% of the bills if you don't.

Now is still the best time to enroll. Get started early to avoid major delays and get yourself situated. I highly recommend calling our office at Nevada benefits. We can get you signed up and educated in less than 15 minutes if you want (typically 30-40). That will save you hours on the Nevada Health Link site and many sleepless nights. I can't even count the number of clients who have found relief after calling us. I honestly feel bad they didn't call us sooner. They also almost enrolled in the wrong plan not knowing their full options.

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