Carpe Diem, Seize Today for Affordable Care!
Affordable Care, also referred to as Obamacare, ends today January 31, 2017 this is where you could enroll in healthcare for yourself and your family for the year. If you did not pick a plan during the Open Enrollment period of November 1, 2016 – January 31, 2017 there will be no option to enroll during the year, unless you have a Special Enrollment, more about that in a moment. There are several types of health plans available; Health Savings accounts (HSA), Health Managed Organizations (HMO), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO), and others also known as alphabet soup.
HSA or high deductible plans that typical have no coverage until the deductible is met and for healthy individuals and families who are able to set aside money into a savings account for spending later. It can be beneficial if you have the funds available because they can rollover until later years and be there as health declines.
HMO are a way for individuals and the insured to save money on both premiums and cost of insurance because the insured should see a primary care provider before going to a specialist for care. This is not a bad thing because most of us would not know that we need to see a specialist for any kind of care without seeing a primary doctor first. These referrals are normally easy to get and easy to have renewed. HMOs have been around a long time and help save everyone money. There is normally no out-of-network provider list.
PPO are preferred for a lot of individuals and families for insurance because they believe that it gives them greater access to care than HMOs because they can see a specialist whenever they want. In one hand this is true, because there is normally an out of network benefit that is not available in HMOs.
Special Enrollment is available for those that qualify throughout the year to enroll in a health plan or to change their health plan due to specific requirements and would be the only reasons that if you missed the Open Enrollment period you can pick a health plan under Affordable Care at this time. Here are the reasons:
- Having a baby
- Getting married
- Losing another type of health coverage
- Adopting a child
- Putting a child up for adoption
- Moving to a new state or county of residence
- Becoming a citizen of the United Sates
- Being released from incarceration
- Gaining status as a member of an Indian Tribe
If you have already enrolled in Marketplace coverage, a change of household status or income may qualify you for a premium tax credit or a reduction in premium, as well.
If you aren’t sure the best way to make sure is to talk to a licensed agent here at Thomas and Associates, our goal here is to answer your questions and give you the best guidance.