Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When I explained the In-Person Assistance enrollment program to one gentleman recently he started to map out how he could generate a nice donation for his favorite nonprofit. Essentially, if he was to become a CEC, enrolled 10 individuals or families, he could let his nonprofit keep the $580 compensation as a donation. Wow, helping people get affordable health insurance and making a donation to your favorite charity or group all at once!
As Covered California ramps up for open enrollment for their “premium assistance” eligible health insurance plans starting in October, Julie Wiegand of Covered California declared they need “boots on the ground” in the form of Certified Enrollment Counselors. Formerly known as Assisters, Certified Enrollment Counselors (CEC) are expected to play a significant part with enrollment in many different communities.
The glitch that leaves single parents paying for health insurance earlier and at a higher rate than a two parent household has to do with the way the federal poverty level is calculated coupled with the way Covered California is calculating premium assistance.
Set to release in early September, the Covered California mobile app will not have the ability to enroll individuals or families in a health plan. It is simply a tool for determining eligibility for the premium subsidy and comparing plans offered in the zip code entered.
The identification of a decent health insurance plan has been like trying to identify edible mushrooms. So many mushrooms look the same: white stem with a cap on top. If you pick the wrong mushroom for dinner it could kill you, just like health insurance. Covered California has created some booklets, or field guides, to help people spot and identify the best health insurance for their family from within the new health insurance market place opening October, 2013.
