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.
With a peek at the enrollment statistics released by Covered California after the end of the ACA open enrollment we are able to visualize just how large the health insurance industry is in the state. While the enrollment data is only for individual and family plans (IFP) purchased through Covered California, the 1.3 million individuals […]
Congratulations! You have a new baby and now it’s time to add the little bundle of joy to your Covered California health plan. Unfortunately, similar to other quirks of the Covered California system, adding a new dependent, if not done properly, could result in a gap in coverage for the baby or loss of the […]
Agents and brokers drove in 39% of the enrollments for Covered California during the 2013-14 ACA open enrollment period with the least amount of training and resources of any group submitting applications. As Covered California starts their budget process allocating money for 2014 training, I had to speak publicly at a Board meeting and plead […]
Individuals who recently acquired Parts A and Part B of Original Medicare may find they have to pay more per month than their existing ACA health plans. Under the ACA rules, once someone accepts Medicare, they must exit any ACA health plan they purchased through the exchange and the tax credits that make it affordable. […]
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows for Special Enrollment Periods for individuals and families to purchase a health plan through the federal or a state exchange when there is a loss of coverage from a qualifying such as a change in employment. There has been confusion over how to characterize the previous month’s employment wages […]
Different interpretations of monthly verses annual income estimates on the part of Covered California and county Medi-Cal administrators have the potential to leave many Californians who are drawing unemployment benefits without any health insurance. At least one person has been denied the ability to purchase a private health plan with ACA tax credits while being simultaneously excluded enrollment in the ACA expanded Medi-Cal health plan. The conflicting interpretations can leave many people ineligible for either ACA tax credits or Medi-Cal.
To be honest, I was fully prepared to be dragged kicking and screaming out of the Blue Shield of California corporate offices in El Dorado Hills. Numerous phone calls and emails on behalf of a client who had made his monthly premiums like clockwork, only to have his health insurance cancel, resulted in hollow promises and no action by Blue Shield to resolve the billing and cancellation nightmare. My last hope to help restore the health insurance for my long distance truck driving client was to rattle the corporate cage of the carrier.
Individuals and families who have enrolled in health plans through Healthcare.gov, or a state exchange like Covered California face new challenges as they report income and household changes. Families reporting changes to household size and income may also be triggering changes to their health plan. These changes may result in the entire family becoming eligible for Medicaid, being shifted into a different Enhanced Silver plan or losing the Advance Premium Tax Credit all together.
Just as Covered California will continue to let Certified Insurance Agents enroll individuals and families in the new ACA health plans, Health Net of California will also accept new applications for enrollment. Applications for both Covered California and Health Net must be submitted by April 15th for a May 1st effective dates. This is only for new enrollments and not for plan changes between carriers.
California doctors, upon finding that the new Covered California health plans may not reimburse them enough to maintain their vaunted lifestyle, are kicking existing patients with the new health insurance out of their practices. These doctors are the epitome of the maxim “Putting profits before people.” Most of these greedy doctors haven’t exercised the common decency to notify their current patients before their appointments that unless they have the right color of health insurance, they won’t be served.
