Calling all insured and soon-to-be-insured! Open Enrollment is JUST AROUND THE CORNER…. November 1 through January 31st. Have you made an appointment to talk to your Insurance Mom?
We posted this back in August in preparation and wanted to remind you what’s new for 2017. Please review!
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Are you ready for health insurance news for NEXT year?? Sit, get cawfee, or a cocktail and let’s tawk!
This interesting article from the NY Times and this one from the Free Beacon each have loads of important info, but here’s the gist.
The SAME news: the NEXT open enrollment period will be 11/1/16 through 1/31/17.
The HAPPY news: Obamacare will be rating health insurance plans based on how many doctors and hospitals are in their networks. BUT (as I am your interpreter of bulls*#$) this doesn’t necessarily mean that doctor networks are going to improve for individual plans. It just means there might be more transparency for you to be able to make informed choices.
The PHEW! news: there’s a new requirement next year called “continuity of care.” What do you do if your doc leaves your network? Often they leave or get dropped from the network without any heads up to YOU. BUT in 2017, if you’re in an “active course of treatment,” you’ll (hopefully!) be able to continue seeing the doctor if they leave the network.
The BAD news: out-of-pocket maximums are going up. WAY UP! In some states, they’ll increase from $6500 to $7150 for individuals, and from $13,000 to $14,300 for families.
The YUCKY news: The Beacon article anticipates that deductibles in most states will see increases , too. No, we don’t know what the increases will be… yet.
The WORST news: hold on to something… premium increases are on the horizon for 2017. No, we don’t know what the increases will be… yet!
The more you know, the more prepared you’ll be for 2017. As WE know more, we’ll update this info and re-post this blog so that The Insurance Mom’s little family of happy clients stay up-to-date and informed.
2 comments
Hi, so bummed about the insurance mess. I have been insured with Anthem the majority of my adult life — through work and well over 20 years individual purchased plan. Believing our President, I was not concerned that the ACA would affect me, after all, I had been insured forever with the same company. In January 2011, I increased my annual deductible to $5500 — with no indication or knowledge that the change would affect my policy continuation. This was a PPO policy and though the deductible seemed high (at that time!) after it was met, there is zero co-pay, zip, nothing out of pocket — and I have always chosen a policy that paid annual wellness check at 100% (no ded. or co-payment) and I purchased a dental coverage rider. Unbeknownst to me or my agent, my deductible increase prevented my plan from being “grandfathered” although it did fall into “grandmothered” status which will expire 12/31/17. Apparently a bronze plan is most comparable (in reality, not at all comparable) and is $400 per month higher with a higher deductible and ridiculous co-pay percentages. I refuse to apply for a subsidy or tax credit — why should I ask taxpayers to pay for something that I had been paying out of pocket for over 20 years? ACA has done an incredible disservice to individuals like me — paying my own way and my own premiums for years and years and who are now being forced to pay more for less or ask for government for assistance.
And by the way, I saw my so called “junk” policy in action when I was diagnosed with breast cancer 4 years ago — yes, $5500 out of pocket right up front and then not another penny (until the next year). I chose that policy and was very pleased with my choice.
Hi, so bummed about the insurance mess. I have been insured with Anthem the majority of my adult life — through work and well over 20 years individual purchased plan. Believing our President, I was not concerned that the ACA would affect me, after all, I had been insured forever with the same company. In January 2011, I increased my annual deductible to $5500 — with no indication or knowledge that the change would affect my policy continuation. This was a PPO policy and though the deductible seemed high (at that time!) after it was met, there is zero co-pay, zip, nothing out of pocket — and I have always chosen a policy that paid annual wellness check at 100% (no ded. or co-payment) and I purchased a dental coverage rider. Unbeknownst to me or my agent, my deductible increase prevented my plan from being “grandfathered” although it did fall into “grandmothered” status which will expire 12/31/17. Apparently a bronze plan is most comparable (in reality, not at all comparable) and is $400 per month higher with a higher deductible and ridiculous co-pay percentages. I refuse to apply for a subsidy or tax credit — why should I ask taxpayers to pay for something that I had been paying out of pocket for over 20 years? ACA has done an incredible disservice to individuals like me — paying my own way and my own premiums for years and years and who are now being forced to pay more for less or ask for government for assistance.
And by the way, I saw my so called “junk” policy in action when I was diagnosed with breast cancer 4 years ago — yes, $5500 out of pocket right up front and then not another penny (until the next year). I chose that policy and was very pleased with my choice.