{"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
\n\u2022 $47.50 per child
\n\u2022 or 1% of an individual\u2019s annual income penalty, whichever is higher.<\/p>\n

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.
\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

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}]}}