We recently learned the outcome of an important legal case with potential implications for health insurance reform. At issue in Halbig v. Burwell was whether or not the language in the Affordable Care Act (in the law itself) gives the IRS and the federal health insurance exchange the authority to distribute premium tax credits to individual policyholders. The argument is that the law states subsidies are available for policies purchased
How do I Calculate My Income to Find Out if I am Eligible for a Health Insurance Subsidy?
Under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), some Americans will be eligible for a subsidy to purchase health insurance through their state’s exchange (or the federal exchange for states like Virginia who have chosen not to run their own exchange). Eligibility for the subsidy is determined in part by household income, relative to the Federal Poverty Level. Click here for details. Some are wondering, however, how to calculate
Health Insurance Premiums Under Affordable Care Act
How will health insurance premiums be calculated in 2014, under Affordable Care Act (ACA)? A policy’s premium is the monthly fee paid to the insurance carrier for health insurance coverage. In pre-ACA policies, insurance carriers can charge differing premiums based upon many factors including, most notably, a person’s age and current health status. Today, the premium paid by someone with a medical condition is typically much higher than that of
Should Young Adults Stay on Their Parents’ Health Insurance?
One of the earliest-implemented provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was the requirement that parents be allowed to keep their adult children on their health insurance until age 26. As a result, many families did just that. Even when the adult child was offered coverage through his or her employer, it often made sense for many reasons for the “child” to stay on the parents’ plan. With the next
Will Young Adults Purchase Health Insurance?
Young adults. Traditionally, buying individual health insurance has been low on the priority list for this demographic. Rarely seeking medical attention, many young adults who are not offered coverage from their employer and are too old to be covered on their parents’ plan simply do not have it. There has been much debate about whether this overall healthy and self-described invincible group of younger, uninsured consumers will buy in to
7 Easy Steps to Prepare for Health Insurance Open Enrollment
October 1, 2013 marks the start of the Open Enrollment period for health insurance. From October 1 – March 31, 2014, Americans will be able to purchase health insurance with an effective date as early as January 1, 2014. And remember, everyone MUST have health insurance by the first of the year! Are you ready? Here are 7 easy steps you can follow: 1 Understand your options. You will be
Making Insurance Affordable
In an earlier post we defined adequate and affordable health insurance, noting that beginning on January 1, 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) states that those people whose employer does not offer adequate and affordable group coverage will be able to purchase insurance on the exchange. One of the ways the new law attempts to make insurance “affordable” is through government subsidy for plans bought on the exchange. Last week,
