Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts related to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and potential changes to the rules, primarily in California.
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.
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 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.
The Affordable Care Act and Covered California have made it very clear that undocumented immigrants can not purchase health plans through the new market place or receive tax credits to reduce monthly health insurance premiums. There are a number of different categories of immigrantion status that do qualify individuals and families to receive premium assistance to help pay for health insurance.
If an agent is strongly opposed to Obamacare they should seriously consider not even selling ACA compliant health plans. Clients are better served by those who believe in the product than those who are selling just for the money.
The Affordable Care Act requires that notices about the health insurance exchanges have to be given to current workers no later than Oct. 1, 2013. The notices have to be given to new workers on the day they are hired.
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.
With only one manufacturer of the Shingles Vaccine, Zostavax from Merck, there are no generic prices on the market. The retail price for Zostavax at the local pharmacies I surveyed is fairly consistent across the board. Lower prices can be found under different Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans, but even with insurance, there can be a spread of $115 to $170 difference in the cost.
