In the spirit of full disclosure, the title of this post comes directly from an article published recently by the Associated Press, the full text of which you can read here.
While we don’t want to be alarmist, we like the title because it really sums up the gist of what we may be seeing in the not-too-distant future.
Some individuals who buy their insurance privately, as well as some small businesses, can expect to receive cancellation notices from their insurance companies in the upcoming months.
This is because, beginning January 1, 2014, all insurance plans must meet minimum coverage requirements defined under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Any plan that does not meet these requirements must be either changed or canceled. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners believes that insurance carriers are more likely to cancel a policy than go through the onerous administrative process of changing it.
One of the best known promises made about the Affordable Care Act as far back as 2009 was that if you like your current health care plan, you can keep your current health care plan.
Now we see this is true unless you can’t because the company has canceled it.
We should note that many insurance carriers will allow people to renew their plans early — before the policy anniversary date — so that coverage can be maintained through next December, or at least until the next policy anniversary.
What Should You Do if Your Plan is Canceled?
Insurance companies will determine in the upcoming months their plans for canceling or changing coverage. Cancellation notices must be sent by September 15, and we will continue to monitor this closely.
The article referenced by this post’s title refers to the “consumer confusion” that will ensue when the cancellation notices are sent out.
If you do receive a cancellation notice, no need to be confused! Give us a call. We will go over your options and help you determine the best plan moving forward.
