One of the biggest questions regarding eligibility for premium assistance or discounts under the new Affordable Care Act is what type of income must the applicant count? The Covered California CalHEERS enrollment website will have a drop down menu to prompt households on the type of income they should be entering for eligibility.
Archives for September 2013
Obamacare is Pro-Life and Family Friendly
Provisions within the Affordable Care Act will reduce accidental pregnancies that are at a higher risk to be aborted. With the increased availability of no cost contraception to women, pregnancies will be planned and abortions reduced. In addition, the financial uncertainties of carrying a pregnancy to term will also be reduced as all health plans will cover maternity benefits.
Few Agents Ready for Covered California Launch
On a recent webinar, Chris Patton, Vice President of SHOP Sales and Agent Management for Covered California, reported that over 15,000 insurance agents have registered to become certified to sell both individual and small group health plans through the California health insurance exchange. Of those thousands of agents, less than 1700 had completed the necessary training for certification only days before the start of open enrollment. In addition, no agents will actually be certified as of the launch on October 1st because agent agreement has not been released.
Hiking Around Paradise
Fed by Mosquito and Butte Creek, Paradise Lake impounds irrigation and drinking water for the Town of Paradise. Hence, the portable toilets are every one-half mile to encourage their use and discourage draining your bladder into the lake.
Kaiser Subsidy Calculator
KFF has develop this simple calculator to help people determine if they are eligible for a subsidy or advance premium tax credit for their health insurance costs. The calculator will work for all fifty states, but is not a replacement for the actual federal or state exchange where you reside.
Medicare Advantage Plans Improve under Obamacare
Not too long ago the talk in conservative circles was how the cuts to Medicare Advantage plans under the Affordable Care Act would hurt seniors. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that more seniors now have access to higher quality Medicare Advantage plans as there has been a 28% increase in plans receiving four or more quality star ratings for the 2014 open enrollment period beginning on October 15th.
You might be a supporter of Obamacare if…
Numerous opinion polls have concluded that a majority of Americans don’t support Obamacare based on what they have heard about it. Of course, a majority of Americans are covered by either group health plans or Medicare and could really care less about learning the specifics of the Affordable Care Act. I dare say that if you polled people on select, specific elements of the ACA, you’ll find a majority of Americans approve of Obamacare.
The COBRA Catch With Covered California Health Plans
The new Affordable Care Act health plans offered through Covered California will help many people move out of an expensive COBRA plan and into an insurance plan with lower premiums. However, COBRA is considered “employer offered” health insurance that meets minimum essential benefits and value. Because of this many people and families on, or offered, COBRA will NOT be eligible for tax credits to reduce the monthly premiums of Covered California plans.
Delay your open enrollment in new Covered California health plans
Open enrollment for the new Covered California health plans launches October 1st. But you don’t have to rush into unknown waters and sign up for coverage that doesn’t start until January 1, 2014. Because these health plans are new, it would be prudent to avoid immediately enrolling until the health plans have been reviewed and all the details are known.
Covered California Certified Trainer Mocks Affordable Care Act
The misguided training was a missed opportunity to explain the importance of Covered California and how the ACA will help millions of people get access to affordable health insurance and quality care. Instead we were told that health plans were expecting lots of sick people to seek care and they were cutting back on their providers. You know, “those people” were going to use the system they had been shut of for years by insurance companies who were just “following the rules” of being able to deny sick people health insurance. It wasn’t the fault of the insurance company, one trainer opined.