More than half of health law’s insurance co-ops are closing

According to Modern HealthCare, the opening hours of the ACA’s third open-enrollment period passed with no major technological glitches, putting the meltdown during the first enrollment in fall 2013 farther into the Obama administration’s rearview mirror. “What it [the Affordable Care Act] has done is create a more competitive market place”.

That is for just one health plan, and the Milwaukee market is unusually competitive.

Employers with less than 50 workers don’t have to report providing proof of health insurance coverage for employees. But it isn’t. It’s a tax subsidy towards your health insurance premiums to make that insurance affordable. That compares with 7.5% nationwide for states with federal marketplaces. You can also visit localhelp.healthcare.gov/ to locate the organizations in your community that will assist you in signing up for coverage.

The Daily Signal reached out to all 11 co-ops for comment.

The cost to the consumer depends on whether he or she is eligible for federal subsidies, in the form of tax credits, pegged to his or her income.

Anyone who doesn’t now have health insurance through their employer, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program or another source can buy coverage through open enrollment from November 1 through January 31.

Yesterday the White House said it wasn’t anxious that too few Americans would enroll in health insurance by the end of the year, rejecting an estimation by the the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that said 20 million Americans should be signed up by then as opposed to HHS’ predictions that only 10 million will. These penalties are issued through the Internal Revenue Service, and US residents must note whether or not they have health insurance coverage when they file their taxes every year.

Premiums also are just one component of the cost.

“If they have no physicians whatsoever in the network, it seems to me that they are not meeting the standard”, he said.

The Affordable Care Act placed a $500,000 salary cap on co-op employees, and executives running the nonprofit insurers earned a high of $490,125-paid to Jerry Burgess, chief executive of Consumers’ Choice Health Insurance Cooperative in South Carolina-and a low of $46,524-paid to Joanne Hill of Colorado HealthOP in Colorado.

“Only in Washington would a group of bureaucrats think they knew how to micromanage “competition” instead of letting consumers and markets do what they do best”, said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who chairs the health subcommittee.

The president said he hoped to convince people already covered under the Affordable Care Act to re-enroll, while targeting outreach efforts at those still without insurance.

Another option is to contact the marketplace call center at 1-800-318-2596 and speak with a customer service representative.

But plan prices are rising more in 2016 than they did in 2015. They are not available for plans in the bronze tier.

This means that someone with an income of $40,000 would pay a penalty of roughly $750.

They now worry that the federal government won’t be able to recoup $1.1 billion in federal loans that failed co-ops received.

Information on ACA open enrollment is available online through the Health Insurance Marketplace at https://www.healthcare.gov/get-coverage/ or by calling 800-318-2569 to speak with licensed insurance agents and brokers.