Open Enrollment for individual/family health insurance plans begins November 1!
Open Enrollment is the only time you can set up individual health insurance plans for the coming year. As you may have heard, some things have changed with Obamacare for 2019. But much remains the same.
6 Things You Need to Know About Obamacare 2019
1. Subsidies. Nothing has changed in Obamacare regarding Premium Tax Credits. If your household income is between 100-400% of the federal poverty level, and you’re not eligible for a group plan, you’ll be able to save some money. This could make a huge difference.
Here’s a chart you can check to see if you’ll qualify.
2. Zero Premium Plans. Along those lines, some people may find they could get plans with no monthly cost. This will be especially true in South Carolina.
3. New Carriers. A few of you will have new options. Blue Cross Blue Shield of GA is moving back into the Marketplace in a lot of counties (including most of metro Atlanta). Ambetter is also expanding to more counties in Georgia and is joining the Marketplace in Charleston County, South Carolina.
4. No Individual Mandate. This is the biggest change in Obamacare. The controversial “individual mandate” in Obamacare is gone in 2019, so you won’t be fined for not having Obamacare-compliant coverage. If you’re healthy, not eligible for a subsidy, and interested in lower-cost alternatives, let’s take a look at short-term health insurance.
5. Simplified Enrollment. Once again we are utilizing a third-party enrollment platform that will make Marketplace enrollments much quicker and simpler than going straight through the government’s website. This year, in most cases, we’ll be able to complete the entire process there.
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6. Passive Re-enrollment. In most cases, if there hasn’t been any change in your income or household situation, you can passively re-enroll in your current plan. We typically suggest taking a look, though, as plans do change a bit year to year.We won’t have all the pricing data until Open Enrollment begins on November 1st. AC Forrest wants to help you (and your friends and colleagues!) get set up with the health insurance plan that makes the most sense for you in 2019.