COVID-19 & Healthcare

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I attended a stakeholders Health Inurance Marketplace training session today sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Cover Arizona Coalition.

The question I most often receive about the Marketplace is about how the tax credits and subsidies for health insurance will work. This is included in the application and enrollment process beginning on October 1. Your estimated income for 2014 will determine the amount of the tax credit and cost-sharing subsidy for which you will qualify.

The Advanced Premium Tax Credit (APTC) will apply to reduce your premium payment. The subsidies will apply to reduce your cost-sharing part of coverage for copays, coinsurance, etc. For example, let's say you select a "Silver Plan" that has a premium of $2000 per month, and has a cost-sharing of 30 percent. In this example, your income level may qualify you for a tax credit that reduces your monthly premium to $1,500 per month and reduces your cost-sharing amount to 20 percent. These credits and subsidies are paid to the insurance provider through the billing process. You will not receive any payment from the government. It is my understanding that the cost-sharing subsidies only apply to the "Silver Plans."

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic today has a useful article about the numerous health care groups who are hard at work trying to educate the public about the Affordable Care Act aka "ObamaCare" and to get them to enroll beginning October 1. Massive insurance sign-up planned in Arizona:

Leaders of Arizona’s social safety-net organizations may be facing the most daunting challenge of their careers.

They’re experts in their field, many with decades in the health-care
and non-profit sectors. Now, they must facilitate the biggest
health-care expansion in two generations by getting people signed up —
beginning Oct. 1 — for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Arizona’s 1 million uninsured are a diverse group of people who,
polls show, have at least one thing in common: They know little about
the federal health-care overhaul that requires most of them to have
coverage next year or pay a fine.

Most are unaware that the new law offers free or subsidized health insurance to nearly all of them.

* * *

In Arizona, there is no state or federal agency charged with finding
them, educating them about the complexities of premiums, copays and
deductibles, or helping them enroll in the right plan. Arizonans who
don’t use insurance agents or brokers, or who don’t qualify for
Medicaid, are expected to navigate the federal online marketplace and
choose their own plan.

Gov. Jan Brewer declined to set up a state-run marketplace where
consumers could shop for insurance, limiting the public funding
available to educate the public. She cited cost, lack of state control
and the unknowns associated with running a state-based exchange when she
ceded that duty to the federal government two years ago.

[Brewer was hoping the ACA would be overturned in the Supreme Court, or repealed in Congress. She is ideologically opposed to do anything to make the program a success.]

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

About 6.4 million Americans will be able to purchase insurance for less than $100 each month on Obamacare’s new state-level marketplaces, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services, Think Progress reports. Under Obamacare, Millions Of Americans Will Pay Less Than $100 Per Month For Health Insurance:

The Obama administration calculated the expected premiums for people
buying “silver” plans, which are the second-cheapest option on the new
insurance marketplaces. Even though not every marketplace has announced
its premium rates yet, researchers were still able to estimate those
payments based on the health law’s rule for determining subsidies.

[See Subsidy Calculator | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.]

Americans who make up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level —
which works out to be $94,200 for a family of four — are eligible for
subsidies that ensure they’ll only pay a certain percentage of their
income for a health plan. Using census data on Americans’ income levels,
researchers were able to extrapolate how many of them would be paying
less than $100 for monthly premiums for silver plans.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Did you know that in just 4 easy steps you and your family could be on
your way to getting quality, affordable coverage through the Health
Insurance Marketplace? Learn all you can now so you’ll be ready to apply for health coverage, compare plans side-by-side, and enroll in a plan on October 1.

Here is the latest information from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to educate the public on the Health Insurance Marketplace:

Item 1: Obama Administration announces a coordinated effort to prevent and detect consumer fraud in the Health Insurance Marketplace

On Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez met at the White House to kick off a comprehensive interagency initiative to prevent, protect against, and, where necessary, prosecute consumer fraud and privacy violations in the Health Insurance Marketplace. Representing key state partners in this critically important effort to protect consumers were Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger. Senior White House officials also attended the meeting.