It's time to sign up for a health care plan
It’s now required by law that nearly all people to have a qualified health care plan this year. With the first deadline expected on March 31, the second open enrollment period will begin in November — a time when small businesses will join the process with a separate exchange called SHOP after a yearlong delay.
The parent company for Blue Cross of Idaho, the largest provider selling policies through the Idaho exchange, in late January said that 264,000 of the 400,000 new policies sold nationally received some form of subsidy to help pay for the monthly premiums. In North Idaho, we’ve seen individuals that have gained subsidies to afford good policies with no monthly premium cost to them and no deductible, also a family of four paying a few hundred dollars for the same. Subsidies are truly an income-based reality for people living between 133 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level.
Unfortunately, Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said no to the accompanying federally funded Medicaid expansion designed to move all people earning less than 133 percent of the FPL to the state’s insurance program. We’ve seen many single men and women in the two northern counties fall through that gap. Included with them are some local veterans. According to Urban Institute Health Policy Center, about 1 in 10 veterans are without health insurance or VA care, which equals about 440 veterans in Bonner County alone.
Affordable Care Act reports from across the nation describe some people enrolling in plans through frustration in understanding the role co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles affect their individual choice. It’s understandable, considering all the uneducated noise about Obamacare coming from much of the American media.
Health care confusion is a local fact too; most people have never shopped insurance policies beyond car insurance. However, getting educated on the language and variables involved with individual and family plan selection is the most complicated step in using Idaho’s health insurance exchange, Your Health Idaho. Taking action to sign up is not so complicated, the website is working well and several people at Kaniksu Health Services are ready to help you through the process.
A team of three military veterans is working to get you factual information needed to make health insurance choices on your own or in conjunction with insurance brokers or agents. Based out of Kaniksu Health Services clinics in Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint and Priest River, we’ll also sign you up if that helps you through the process. Mostly, we will provide, or search out, answers to your questions, fact-based policy information and possible subsidies to consider while making your choice. You will primarily need to estimated your income for 2014, know how many you wish to cover and have an understanding of your or the family’s health care needs for the next year.
• Greg Skinner is employed at Kaniksu Health Services in outreach of the Affordable Care Act.