It’s the Holiday Season, everyone is shopping for that special gift. Have you shopped for that best gift for you and your family? It’s Affordable Care Open Enrollment! If you haven’t shopped a plan or even if you have, you can still review your plan with a licensed agent and make sure you got the best plan for you.
Happy Shopping
Some of the insurance terms that can make it confusing to figure it out:
- Deductibles
- Medication
- Copays
- Co-insurance
- Doctors (providers)
- Hospitals
- In-network
- Out-of-Network
- Max-out-of-pocket
What do these terms mean? How do they help me determine the right plan for me? Do I have the right plan for me and my family? All of these terms are used to explain the benefits of an insurance plan, each plan has different criteria based on the what the insurance company has filed with the state and federal government to comply with the Metal Levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. It will vary upon the individual company but they must meet a minimum essential health benefits.
Then to further confuse you and your family:
- Federal Poverty Level (FPL)
- Tax Penalties
- Tax credits
- Financial Assistance
- On-Market Plans
- Off-Marketplace Plans
- Medicaid
- Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP)
Are these plans truly affordable for me? Tax credits are used to help offset the cost of insurance if your family qualifies for an On-Marketplace plan when you file for taxes at the end of the following year and will be used to calculate any savings that will apply throughout the year. Its why the agent will ask your income, family size, and if you plan to file taxes. Medicaid would be if you do not earn enough to qualify, CHIP is for children if their family doesn’t earn enough income. Off Marketplace plans are available for anyone but can be purchased without using any tax credits or declaring income. Tax penalties apply if you do not purchase health coverage since it is a requirement now.
These terms can be very overwhelming, avoid the confusion and use Thomas and Associates, licensed agents. We can help avoid that frustration with no obligation. The benefits personalized service, informed agents that have your best interest; will look at your situation and determine which plan fits your needs, explain benefits and terms. In addition, advise you what will help you in the year to come. There is no price difference and no confusion without having to spend hours trying to shop the plans yourself and risk getting overwhelmed or worse finding out that you picked a low-cost plan but had higher costs based on copays, deductibles, medication formula or other intangibles. Our goal here is to help remove that confusion of all the terms and clarify the plans so that you can pick a plan in under an hour and go back to your holiday shopping.