Everyday you are probably receiving more and more information, through print, radio and television, about the upcoming health care reforms in California. Not understanding the changes can easily causes anxiety. While there is not yet much detailed information available about the changes, it is still important to have some understanding in order to make an informed decision how the Obamacare will affect you personally.
Here are some quick facts about what will happen in the next 6 weeks:
* The majority of Individual Californians Health Insurance policyholders will receive a letter from their insurance carrier stating that they will migrate into the “Affordable Care Act” (ACA) Plan.
* These “Affordable Care Act (ACA) Plans – are also called metallic plans, which is based on a
tiered program of insurance plans. There will be four tiers of insurance, Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Plans. For more details about the plans click this link.
* Depending on the insurance carriers, Anthem, Blue Shield, Healthnet, Kaiser Permanente will move you into these new metallic plans this Fall 2013, for an effective date of January 2014. I will be contacting you in October once it is established exactly how each plan and network will look, both inside and outside the exchange. At this time neither the exchange, Covered California, nor the insurance carriers have provided information regarding their final premiums or their final networks. I truly believe that an informed decision can be only done when the insurance market is transparent, which will be in the Fall of this year.
* Cigna and Assurant have chosen to stay in the California market, but will not participate inside the exchange. These policyholders can keep their current plans until the end of 2014. I will also address these policyholders in the Fall to see whether the new ACA plans will be a better fit for them, when compared to their current plans.
*Aetna and UHC individual policyholders will loose their current individual health plans as both companies move out of California December 31 2013, this pertains only to the individual market and not small business group market or senior market. They, as all Californians, will have the option to compare all insurance plans inside and outside the exchange in Fall, and select the plan that best fits their needs for January 2014. Medical Underwriting for 2014 will not exist anymore.
* There are lots of rumors about what to expect. Some of them are that the networks of the ACA plans are significant smaller, that out-of-network doctors will be only paid in case of an emergency, and that premiums might be lower or higher. I urge you to wait and see what each carrier inside and outside the exchange will be offering this fall, at which time we will help you determine which is the best plan for your individual and family needs.
Please feel free to Solid Health Insurance Services with any questions you might have about the upcoming health care overhaul in California. We view it as our responsibility to guide you through the process, and together we will find the best plan which fits your individual health insurance needs.