5 Steps To Avoid Confusion When Shopping For Your Obamacare Insurance Plan
Are you one of many Americans looking forward to signing up for an affordable Obamacare health plan? Follow these steps to easily shop for plans now that the health insurance marketplaces are open.
1. Mark important dates in your calendar
- You could start shopping for your new insurance plan on October 1. Bear in mind the new plans won’t provide coverage until 2014. Be sure to make your first payment by December 15, 2013, so that your coverage will begin right away on January 1, 2014.
- If you want to take your time shopping, you’ll have until March 31, 2014 to sign up for a plan. If you don’t sign up by then, expect a penalty on your taxes. Visit Intuit’s tool to calculate your penalty.
2. Gather your basic info before you start
- Be prepared to enter your household size, your age and the ages of other household members, social security number, marital status and zip code. Don’t worry about reporting your pre-existing conditions—if you have any—everyone can get insurance from the Affordable Care Act insurance plans regardless of existing health problems.
- You’ll also need to know your household’s Adjusted Gross Income (look for it on Line 37 on your 2013 10-40). This is important because it will determine if you’re eligible for premium assistance—you could save hundreds of dollars every month! Many Americans will be able to pay less than $100 per month for a plan. You can calculate your premium assistance at any time using the Kaiser Family Foundation’s free Subsidy Calculator.
3. Find your state marketplace
- Shopping for Obamacare plans will be different from any insurance comparisons you’ve done before. Some states chose to run their own marketplace—each will have its own website. Find where to buy insurance in your state using a marketplace directory. Residents of states that chose to have a federally run marketplace can find their options at healthcare.gov.
4. Avoid distractions on the marketplace website
- To begin with, don’t let the term “marketplace” confuse you. These marketplaces were designed to simplify insurance shopping by allowing you to compare options side-by-side—think Expedia for your health insurance.
- If you’re shopping for insurance for yourself and your family, ignore “employee, employer, and broker” sections of the website. Even though you may be an employee, you’ll want to navigate straight to the “individual and family” section.
- If you’re still confused, look for resources on the website that will help to clarify things. The FAQ section of the website might answer some of your general questions—if you have more specific issues, you can get in touch with a Navigator, someone in your community who is paid by the government to help people like you understand their health insurance options.
5. Understand your plan options
- One key aspect of Obamacare plans is that they all include some of the same standard benefits—emergency services, maternity care, and more. You will be able to pick your insurance company and metal tier, but these benefits are required of all plans.
- Metal tiers: Every shopper will be able to choose between Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum plans. If you are under 30, you can also pick a Catastrophic plan (lowest monthly premiums, best for someone who wants coverage only in case of emergency). Bronze plans have the lowest monthly premiums out of the four tiers, but you pay more for copays and deductibles. Bronze plans are best for healthy people who only use limited healthcare services. As the metal tier increases (from bronze to silver to gold to platinum), monthly premiums go up, but copays and deductibles go down. Higher tier plans are best for individuals with chronic conditions that require frequent doctor visits.
- Insurance companies: In addition to choosing a metal tier, you will need to pick an insurance company. While price is important, a few more dollars a month could get you a plan with more doctors or a more navigable website. Use the Easy Index on my site NerdWallet to evaluate different plans based on customer service, available technology support like on-line bill pay, and size of the provider network.
Bonus tip: vocabulary you’ll need to understand
Monthly premium: the price that an insurance company charges for a given plan.
Premium assistance (or tax credit): the dollar amount that the government pays to give you more affordable monthly premiums. You can interpret this as a discount on your monthly premium.
Monthly payment: what you actually pay, after premium assistance.
