Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
But does the High Deductible Plan G protect you from catastrophic Medicare health care costs? In the example below, the Medicare beneficiary has a medical event where they must be hospitalized for five days. They must then reside in a skilled nursing facility for 30 days to recuperate. The costs are 2026 and 2036 where a 5 percent inflation adjustment has been applied to the Medicare costs.
A few of the carriers will offer discounts on dentistry, optometry, pharmacy purchases, and hearing exams and hearing aids. These discount offerings are NOT insurance. Some of the carriers also offer dental, vision, and Part D prescription drug plans. It’s possible that those carriers would rather you enroll in their insurance plans instead of using a discount program. The discount plans may be valuable for some people who can leverage the programs to save money.
Covered California must perform periodic data matching between their enrolled members and federal databases. If they determine that a consumer is eligible for Medicare, and the individual is receiving subsidies for health insurance, they will be automatically discontinued.
If Mary Lynn had to repay excess subsidies of $2,000, the repayment would be limited to $975 because her income is between 200% and 300% of the federal poverty level. Because her excess subsidy is less than $975, the $804.84 amount is transferred to line 29 of Part III.
The slope of the curve increases at the $125k income group. This is also the point where, for many families, the 2.5% of income penalty calculation is greater than the flat penalty amount. The highest average penalty happens at the $900k and $4 million income groups. The $900k income group had an average penalty of $7,921 and the $4 million group average penalty was $8,118. There was no data published for the $5 million income group.
VSP offers monthly premium discounts for multiple family members. The best deal is if you have a family of more than 3 household members. Blue Shield offers no family discounts. Remember, all individual and family plans include pediatric dental and vision for children 18 years old and younger. There may be no reason to include your children in the vision plan if it is already embedded in the health plan.
The book of maps is titled County Atlas of California. The subtitle is Showing All Towns, Postoffices, Railroads, County Roads, Stage Lines Carrying Passengers, Mail and Express, and Distances Between Points. Noted on the title page is “Corrected to December 1900.”
It appears the health plan invoiced for the higher premium plus the excess subsidies paid in January and February. Consequently, the March invoice was $314.00 the combination of $275.58 + $19.21 + $19.21.
Covered California has revised their income table to reflect the higher federal poverty levels. The higher dollar amount numbers are effective March 2026. The revision only applies to Medi-Cal programs. When reviewing any income table update, make sure the date in the lower right-hand corner is 3/2026. That is the revised table from the 10/2025 […]
When I view an AI generated health insurance plan comparison and analysis, I’m very impressed. I can see how AI will fill the analysis and comparison of health plans for many consumers.
