Buy 2013 Health Insurance Plans before Dec. 31 2013 in Colorado Save $$$

Did you know you could still buy health insurance plans, with a significant lower premium than Connect for Health Colorado offers, depending on your income, and health conditions. The premium is good for approximately 1 year and I will help you switch over to an Affordable Care Act compliant plan in the year 2014.  Call Jo Anne Bly, 719-434-2015 and I can email you a quote or email me at JoAnneBly@PeakInsuranceBroker.com  Zip codes for Colorado residents only.

Connect for Health Colorado Website needs Streamlining!

People are finding out in the state of Colorado, that the process to sign up on the Connect for Health Colorado application process is taking weeks.  The clog in this system is a mandatory step requiring shoppers seeking tax credits to be first tuned down for Medicaid, worries heath care officials across the state, as Connect for Health Colorado wades through its second month in business. Only 3,408 people have signed up, last statistics reported.

Given that health insurance is a risk-based business meaning that affordability is often determined by the number of health people who buy in, those numbers need to rise!

Why do I need a Health Insurance Broker?

Why do I need an Insurance Broker?

Why is it important to choose a health insurance broker? Why not work directly with the insurance company? These are questions that you may be asking too! If you live in Colorado go to www.PeakInsuranceBroker.com

 

Why is it important to choose an insurance broker?

A health insurance broker (technically referred to in the state of Colorado as an independent health insurance agent) is an agent that can work with many different insurance companies simultaneously.

Many agents are captive agents; meaning that they can only represent one insurance company and would be outside the bounds of their contract to even be licensed with another insurance company.  A captive agent will struggle to meet the needs of their clients because their options are obviously quite limited. A CO health insurance broker (independent agent) such  as the representatives of Peak Insurance Broker.com, can shop their client's case to multiple insurance companies and help their clients compare offers and plans from many different insurance companies.

Why not work directly with the insurance company?

In the state of Colorado the Department of Regulatory Agencies Colorado Division of Insurance regulates the insurance premiums. There are laws in place to make sure that the consumer will get the exact same price for insurance whether they use a broker/agent or go directly to the company. The insurance companies set the rates and the rates are regulated so as to make sure they are the same no matter where the consumer purchases the policy. There is no such as thing as “getting a better deal”, obtaining a “discount”, or “price haggling” from one specific agent.

An advantage to working with a broker versus purchasing directly from the insurance company is that the broker can help you compare plans from multiple companies side by side on an ongoing basis. A broker can also give you a degree of personal time and attention that a call center certainly cannot offer.

What should you look for in a health insurance broker anyway?

Your broker should take the time to understand your personal situation, your financial objectives, and your preferences for coverage. Your broker should be available to assist you over the phone when you need help. Your broker should give you guidance as to the pros and cons of the different health insurance companies in Colorado (they should be able to give you good objective advice and many times they should be able to tell you things about different companies that would not be able to be published online). Your broker should be honest and helpful.

So what are you waiting for contact www.PeakInsuranceBroker.com today!

Obama Trying to Deal with Cancellations

President Barack Obama says he'll do everything  he can do to help people coping with health insurance cancellations, but legally and practically his options appear limited.  That means the latest political problem engulfing Obama's health care overhaul may not be resolved quickly, cleanly or completely.

As a Broker, I have a company were they have mailed out cancellation letters for individual insurance and my client has not received the letter yet.  The couple has until November 15, 2013 to mail back the Acceptance Letter to extend their policy into the year 2014.  Time is running out for this couple and there is no letter in site!

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Testifes on Capitol Hill and Takes Some Heat!

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas one of Health and Human services Secretary Sebelius (Oversees Obamacare) most aggressive questioners, read aloud from a page of the White House website that says: "If you like your plan, you can keep it and you don't have to change a thing due to the health care law."

Turing to Sebelius, he said, "Well, we know that lying to Congress is a crime, but unfortunately lying to the American people is not.  I'd just like to as you a simple true or false question.  Is that statement on the White House website true or is it false?  Sebelius said, "Sir I think the statement is that..." before Cornyn cut her off. "Is it true or is it false?" Madame Secretary?" he asked.

She said "a vast majority" of people who are insured through their jobs would keep their plans and "a majority" of the 11 million in the individual market will keep plans with stronger coverage while others will have to choose if they have a brand new plan and not a grandfathered plan.

Crornyn responded, "I will just ask that the record note that you have refused to answer my question whether it's true or false."

3,408 Enrolled in Connect for Health Colorado as of 11/7/13

The figures were released the same day that officials overseeing Connect for Health Colorado announced that 3,408 people were enrolled through plans purchased during the marketplace's first month. By comparison, Connect for Health Colorado is about 2.5 percent of the way toward its goal of covering 136,000 people by Dec. 31, 2014.  They have a ways to go!

In Colorado 250,000 Served Cancellation Letters

23 Insurance Companies in state sent cancellation letters as their policy is ending! Another 143,116 people lost plans carried by 10 insurance companies on the small group market. Throughout the nation, at least 3.5 million people have faced similar cancellations, The Associated Press reported Wednesday morning. Nearly a quarter of a million Coloradans received cancellation letters from their health insurance carriers in recent months.  Some people have not received their cancellation notice and are in a panic on when it will come in the mail. 

Will Insurance Cost More?

This will vary a lot from person to person. Some people who are buying a bare-bones plan right now will likely see higher premiums under the Affordable Care Act. They will be getting more benefits, but paying more in premiums! 

Some people will get financial help buying that more robust insurance; people who earn less than 400 percent of the federal poverty line (about $45,000 for an individual can use a tax subsidy to buy their plan. 

Cancellation, Then Sticker Shock!

Many of my clients have recently received letters notifying them that their health insurance plan was canceled because it did not cover certain benefits required under the new law.  With Anthem, customers can sign an Acceptance Letter to extend their present plan until their anniversary month of 2014.  They can also go to ConnectforHealthCo and work on a quote which in most cases have a higher premium!  One of my clients tried this, and said, "We are buying insurance that has a higher deductible, and higher premium"!  Please call me if you need help on this!
www.peakinsurancebroker.com   Hang in there, it can only get better!

Affordable Care Act FAQ

Where can I go for help understanding how the health reform law will affect me?

If you have questions about how the health reform law will affect you and your insurance options, please go to Healthcare.gov, or contact their Help Center if you have questions that cannot be answered on their website. You can also contact your state’s Consumer Assistance Program, Exchange, or Medicaid office with questions about eligibility and enrollment.  The Kaiser Family Foundation is unable to provide individual advice on your insurance options.

Does the calculator provide definitive estimates of what people will pay under the health reform law?

No. The calculator is intended to illustrate how families in varying circumstances may be affected by the tax credits and limits on age rating included in the law. Premiums will vary from region to region and based on assumptions insurers make in setting premiums. In addition to what people would pay in premiums, they would also have out-of-pocket expenses for cost sharing (e.g., deductibles and coinsurance), which in some cases would be subsidized based on income. In addition, there are many other factors that could increase or decrease how much people pay, including efforts to make the health care system more efficient and additional revenue measures to finance the federal cost of reform.

How do premium subsidies work?

People purchasing coverage on their own will be eligible for government subsidies (through a tax credit) towards their health insurance premiums based on income. Subsidies will be provided to people with family income between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level. The most that these families buying subsidized coverage in an exchange will pay towards a health insurance premium will range from 2.0% of income at 100% of poverty to 9.5% of income at 400% of poverty, with amounts at specific income levels specified in a table in the law. Subsidies are tied to a benchmark level of coverage based on actuarial value. And, subsidies will only be available to those purchasing coverage through the exchanges, which includes people who do not have access to alternative insurance (such as Medicaid and affordable employer coverage). When an exchange determines that a person is eligible for a tax credit based on expected income, and that person enrolls in coverage, subsidies will be paid directly to insurers to lower the cost of premiums (and in some cases cost sharing). For more information, click here. 

What is included in household income? How do I know what to enter for my income?

The calculator allows users to enter household income in terms of 2014 dollars or as a percent of the federal poverty level. Household income includes incomes of the taxpayer, spouse, and dependents. In determining eligibility for exchange subsidies, income will be based on your attestation of your expected income in 2014 and will be verified by the exchange with documentation from your most recent tax return, with consideration of reasonable changes you expect. Exchanges will calculate enrollees’ household incomes using Modified Adjusted Gross Income, or MAGI.  The MAGI calculation includes such income sources as wages, salary, foreign income, interest, dividends, and Social Security. MAGI calculation does not include income from gifts, inheritance, and Survivors Benefits, and some other income sources are partially excluded. More information on MAGI is available here.

What is the poverty level?

The federal poverty level varies by family size. In 2013, it is $11,490 for a single adult and $23,550 for a family of 4.  

How does Medicaid relate to exchange subsidies?

Currently, Medicaid eligibility varies substantially by state, and is generally limited to certain categories of people (e.g., children, parents, people who are disabled, and people age 65 or older). Under health reform, states have the option to expand Medicaid eligibility to all people with incomes below 138% of the poverty level. The calculator notes when people would be eligible for Medicaid under expansion, and when they would be eligible for exchange subsidies if their state does not expand Medicaid. More information on state decisions regarding Medicaid expansion is available here. In other cases, people may be Medicaid-eligible based on their state’s eligibility requirements. As Medicaid eligibility varies from state to state, please contact your state’s Medicaid office with eligibility and enrollment questions.  

How do premiums vary by age and health status?

Before the health law goes into effect in 2014, people buying coverage on their own generally face medical underwriting, meaning that they can be turned down for coverage or charged a higher premium based on their health status. Under the reform law, insurers are prohibited from denying coverage or charging higher premiums based on health status. Beginning in 2014, the reform law also limits the degree to which premiums  may vary by age , with the premium for a 64 year old being no more than three times that of a 21 year old. This means that premiums for older people may be lower than under the status quo while premiums for younger people may be higher.  Under proposed regulations by Health and Human Services (HHS), children under age 21 have slightly lower premiums and families with more than three children under the age of 21 will only be charged premiums for three children.  

How do premiums vary by location?

As under the status quo, the health reform law permits premiums to vary by geographic area, reflecting the fact that the cost of living and health care expenses vary significantly by location. As shown here, average health insurance premiums vary quite a bit by state, with the lowest family premium in a state at about 17% below the national average and the highest at about 11% above the average. Premiums also vary by location within states, so the range across communities nationwide is larger than the statewide averages suggest. Premiums in the calculator are based on estimates of average premiums nationwide. Therefore, actual premiums may be higher or lower, depending on where you live.

How do premiums vary by tobacco usage?

Currently, insurers in many states charge higher premiums (in the form of a surcharge) for enrollees who use tobacco. The health reform law allows insurers to charge people who use tobacco up to 50% more in premiums than people who do not use tobacco. Furthermore, the law specifies that exchange subsidies cannot be used to cover the portion of the premium that is due to a tobacco surcharge. The calculator assumes that insurers will charge enrollees the maximum 50% surcharge, but actual surcharges will likely vary. Under the status quo, insurers typically charge an average of 20%. Residents of states that do not permit tobacco surcharges (listed here) may arrive at a more accurate premium estimate by selecting that they do not use tobacco. 

What are Bronze and Silver plans?

When purchasing subsidized exchange coverage, you can choose between four levels of coverage: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum (in order of least to most comprehensive). In general, more comprehensive plans have higher premiums, but also have lower out-of-pocket costs. Bronze level coverage is the lowest level of coverage most people are required to have under health reform; on average bronze plans cover 60 percent of enrollees’ total costs. Silver level coverage is more comprehensive, covering on average 70 percent of enrollees’ total costs. The most comprehensive plans are Gold and Platinum plans, which on average cover 80 and 90 percent of enrollees’ total costs, respectively. For more information, see the question about actuarial value below.

What is actuarial value and how does it affect premiums?

The actuarial value of a health insurance policy is the percentage of the total covered expenses that the plan covers, on average for a typical population. For example, a plan with a 70% actuarial value means that consumers would on average pay 30% of the cost of health care expenses through features like deductibles and coinsurance. The amount that each enrollee pays will vary substantially by the amount of services they use. The health reform law specifies a benchmark level of coverage for the purposes of premium subsidies using actuarial values. Premium subsidies will be tied to Silver plans, which have an actuarial value of 70%. Additional subsidies for people making between 100 and 250% of the poverty level limit cost sharing and raise the actuarial value of Silver plans. The calculator also illustrates premiums and subsidies for Bronze plans, which have an actuarial value of 60%. Bronze plans represent the minimum level of coverage most people are required to maintain under health reform, and these plans will have higher cost sharing on average. Regardless of the level of actuarial value, insurers will have to cover a defined set of health care services and cap the total amount of cost sharing required of consumers at defined levels, but can generally otherwise vary the structure and degree of cost sharing so long as minimum actuarial value thresholds are met.

Can premiums be compared to what people are paying today?

Premiums cannot necessarily be compared to what people are paying now. Most people with insurance today have coverage through work, where the employer is paying for a portion of the premium. The premiums and tax credits presented in the calculator apply to people who are buying insurance on their own. The premium calculations are consistent with estimates of premiums under reform prepared by the Congressional Budget Office. However, in many cases coverage will be more comprehensive and accessible than what is typically available today in the non-group market. As a result, 2014 premiums in the calculator cannot necessarily be compared to what people buying insurance on their own were paying before the law. Colorado and Arizona Independent Insurance Broker