2013 Allied Executives Health Care & Employee Benefit Update - Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act provides those not covered or those who need to get their own insurance new ways to obtain insurance.  A Health Insurance Marketplace will become available which is like a virtual insurance Mega Mall.  You will be able to pick out how much coverage you want and how much you want to pay for it.  There will be cheaper high deductible bronze plans to more expensive platinum plans offered.  All plans will cover hospital visits, doctor visits, maternity care, mental health care and prescription drugs.

Not all states will open an online Health Insurance Marketplace because it is not required.  However the Federal Government will open an online Health Insurance Marketplace in those states instead.  One big advantage to using these marketplaces is that the government will provide tax payers with a tax credit to help make insurance more affordable. This will help those who don’t have any other options and their income is below a certain level.  In fact most people on their own will be eligible for the tax credit and won’t have to pay the entire premium themselves.

These marketplaces will make sure the insurance companies will operate fairly under strict rules.  They will have to offer insurance to everyone even if they are sick and they won’t be able to charge more for preexisting conditions.  Unlike today, men and women will pay the same price and prices for older people will come down while young people will pay more.  To help keep costs down young people can stay on their parent’s plan until age 26 and buy low budget catastrophic plans until they are 30 years old.

If you choose not to get insurance at all you will not be eligible to get insurance until certain enrollment periods and you will be given a penalty fine for being uninsured.  However, if you really can’t afford to buy in and can’t get insurance the government will waive the penalty.

Don’t be fooled, this still doesn’t mean insurance will come cheap.  A lot of people will be paying less but some will pay more.  So what’s going to cover all these new costs…TAXES.  Taxes to the health industry, individuals (mostly wealthy), hospitals, and insurance companies.

To learn more at HEALTHCARE.GOV

*The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation “The YouToons Get Ready for Obamacare” video. (http://kff.org/health-reform/)

Five Things I Learned at the Allied Executives Health Care & Employee Benefit Update Event

1. How will I be covered?½ Insured by Employer1/3 Insured by Government1 in 10 people will buy their own insuranceAbout 30 million people (just fewer than 1 in 10 people) will still have no insurance.
    
2. Those insured by Employer may have some new advantages like caps on what you pay out of pocket and free preventative care.
    
3. Larger companies (with 50 or more employees) will be required to provide coverage for full time workers or face penalties. (Delayed till 2015)
    
4. Smaller Employers won’t be penalized but will be encouraged to provide insurance with an online marketplaces and tax breaks.  Also insurers can’t inflate prices if someone gets sick.
    
5. Government insured, for seniors not much will change the law has already started helping with prescription drugs and better preventative care.  Medicaid will expand for poor adults, if your income is low Medicaid will likely cover you but there is a catch each state can determine if your state will expand Medicaid.
   
   ¹The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation “The YouToons Get Ready for Obamacare” video. (http://kff.org/health-reform/)