500K picked plans in Obamacare’s first week

Open Enrollment is the time of year when you can enroll or renew coverage for Washington Apple Health (Medicaid) or into a Qualified Health Plan. Since the new requirements for all to be insured began in 2014, more than 100,000 Kansans have gained insurance, mostly through the Kansas Health Insurance Marketplace, also called an exchange. If you live in a state that did expand Medicaid and your income is up to 138% of the poverty level – $16,243 – you must go on Medicaid and can not qualify for tax credits.

“Wow, finally someone did something to help small businesses deal with the rising cost of providing employees health insurance”, he said.

“It can be easy to cut corners, but your health is important”, said Erin Hemlin, national training director at Young Invincibles, an advocacy group for 18- to 34-year-old Americans on health care and other issues.

Most Americans would be caught completely unprepared if they or a loved one were faced with a medical crisis that required long-term care. For instance, New York’s North Shore-LIJ Health System, Oregon’s Providence Health and Services, and Inova Health System in Virginia are among the lowest-priced silver plans, according to an Urban Institute analysis that looked at plans in 21 states. “I’m better off not purchasing that insurance and saving the money in case something bad happens”. News reports this week have focused on the enormous economic pressure under which Obamacare is operating, including the announcement by regulators in NY that the state’s Health Republic health care co-op is under investigation. But those dependent on Obamacare for health care coverage will be hit the hardest because the co-op failures are, at least in part, responsible for the spike in 2016 Obamacare premiums. A $1 raise in cash wages may filter down to an employee as just 60 or 70 cents after taxes, but a dollar increase in health insurance spending is a full dollar for the worker. That’s one of the reasons why U.S. medical bills are so expensive and many people have trouble paying them. “At the time, the costs of the SHIP premiums were increasing to a point that they were higher than what was available on the health exchange”. In Colorado, Medicaid provides health coverage for a few low-income individuals, families, children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities. In addition, it has added a search tool that allows people to get an estimate of their total out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles, copayments and coinsurance.

“I think it’s absolutely stupid”, said Andy Peterson, a student studying history at ISU who only attends part-time because of the additional fees and requirements for full-time students. Many of them exceeded their enrollment projections and then they failed because they got their customers by low-balling premiums, according to the Wall Street Journal. Not all plans are structured the same, and they can be hard to compare, warns Chris Redrich, 28, of Irvine, Calif, who will be buying insurance on Covered California, the state’s marketplace website, for himself and his husband this year.

And it’s important to check out whether you will be able to visit nearly any doctor or health care facility. The objective of this annual study is to analyze the scope of employer-sponsored health benefits around the country. Eight of the store’s 15 employees signed up for the SHOP policy sold by Moda Health.

Millions of people like Jesicca have found quality, affordable coverage on HealthCare.gov.