{"id":2269,"date":"2014-03-13T15:40:13","date_gmt":"2014-03-13T22:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/?p=2269"},"modified":"2014-03-13T15:40:13","modified_gmt":"2014-03-13T22:40:13","slug":"still-need-health-insurance-what-you-need-to-know-about-obamacare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/still-need-health-insurance-what-you-need-to-know-about-obamacare\/","title":{"rendered":"Still need Health Insurance? What You Need to Know About ObamaCare"},"content":{"rendered":"
If you are one of the many Americans that still doesn\u2019t have health insurance<\/a>, your last chance to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, is just a few days away. Open enrollment ends on March 31st.<\/p>\n A key requirement of the Affordable Care Act mandates that all Americans must have health insurance or they may face a penalty. Penalties are:<\/p>\n \u2022 $95 per person So, if you\u2019re one of the millions of Americans that still hasn\u2019t signed up for health coverage, here are a few key things you need to know about obtaining healthcare under the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n First, let\u2019s start with the basic elements:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Under the Affordable Care Act, all plans must cover the ten essential health benefits, including mental health services, preventive care, and maternity care. If you\u2019re an individual who earns $45,900 a year or less, or a family of four earning under $94,200 a year, then you may qualify for premium subsidies that can lower your healthcare costs.<\/p>\n Out-of-Pocket Costs<\/strong><\/p>\n There are five types of plans \u2013 bronze, silver, gold, platinum and catastrophic. While all marketplace plans essentially offer similar core benefits, the difference between the available plans concerns out-of-pocket expenses. If you choose a \u201cbronze\u201d plan, you\u2019ll have a lower premium, but you\u2019ll end up paying more for medical services you may need. If you were to choose a \u201cplatinum\u201d plan, your premium might be slightly higher, but it will cover a greater amount when you receive services. Regardless of what plan you choose, all plans have a maximum out-of-pocket cost limit, which is no more than $6,350 for an individual plan and $12,700 for a family.<\/p>\n Research the Provider Network <\/strong><\/p>\n If going to a particular hospital or seeing a certain doctor is important to you, make sure they are in your provider network before purchasing a plan. In order to keep costs down, some health insurance companies are offering narrow networks in their exchange plans. This means that you have to do your research before you purchase a plan.<\/p>\n If your preferred healthcare provider isn\u2019t in the plan you choose, you can always go out-of- network for care, but depending on what plan you have, you\u2019ll have to pay more or all of the costs.<\/p>\n If you still have questions, the good news is, there is a lot of help!<\/p>\n Every state has resources available to residents who need help enrolling in a health plan. If you need help, go to localhelp.healthcare.gov<\/a> and enter your ZIP code to find assistance near you.<\/p>\n Or you can call toll-free 1-855-355-5777 to speak to trained representatives who can answer any questions you may have.<\/p>\n You can also check out the following websites to learn more about the Affordable Care Act:<\/strong><\/p>\n Healthcare.gov<\/a> \u2014 The federal government’s official health insurance website.<\/p>\n Kff.org<\/a> \u2014 The Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on major health care issues, offers a treasure trove of information and helpful online tools, including an animated video on the Affordable Care Act and a health insurance subsidy calculator<\/p>\n Remember, the deadline to sign-up is March 31st, with coverage starting May 1st. The next open enrollment period will be November 15, to obtain coverage in 2015. You can sign-up for coverage after March 31st, but only under a special circumstance such as marriage<\/a>, divorce, loss of a job, or birth of a child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you are one of the many Americans that still doesn\u2019t have health insurance, your last chance to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, is just a few days away. Open enrollment ends on March 31st. A key requirement of the Affordable Care Act mandates that all Americans must have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2270,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[696],"tags":[346,476,477],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.costulessdirect.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2022 $47.50 per child
\n\u2022 or 1% of an individual\u2019s annual income penalty, whichever is higher.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 An insurance company can\u2019t turn you down based on a preexisting condition
\n\u2022 Many people who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act\u2019s federal and state will be eligible for some sort of financial assistance.<\/p>\n