COVID-19 & Healthcare

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The second most frequent question I receive about the Health Insurance Marketplace is when are we going to know the insurance rates in Arizona? The correct answer is October 1.

Late Tuesday, the government issued a report detailing premiums in
states whose insurance markets will be federally run starting Oct. 1, i.e., Arizona, with costs generally lower than prior estimates. The New York Times reports, Officials Offer First Detailed Look at Health Plan Costs:

The Obama administration on Tuesday provided the first detailed look at
premiums to be charged to consumers for health insurance in 36 states
where the federal government will run new insurance markets starting
next week, highlighting costs it said were generally lower than previous
estimates.

[According to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.]

* * *

The White House sought to focus attention on what it portrayed as the
financial advantages of the health insurance program, which is set to
start accepting customers on Oct. 1.

“I can tell you right now that in many states across the country, if
you’re, say, a 27-year-old young woman, don’t have health insurance, you
get on that exchange, you’re going to be able to purchase high-quality
health insurance for less than the cost of your cellphone bill,” Mr.
Obama said Tuesday, speaking at a health care forum in New York City
with former President Bill Clinton.

For a benchmark plan — the second-lowest-cost “silver plan,” covering 70
percent of projected medical costs for a typical consumer — the average
premium nationally will be $328 a month for individuals, the
administration said in a new report.

By Tom Prezelski Re-posted from Rum, Romanism and Rebellion A few days back, we learned that James Spader will be playing the misanthropic robot Ultron in the next Avengers movie. To be honest, I do not know what to make of this. I love Spader, but I am not sure if even he can portray … Read more

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.]