it’s almost that time: ACA open enrollment opens November 1, 2018!

fiddleabout:

hey kids!  if you’re an american who buys their own health insurance, open enrollment for coverage in 2018 will run from November 1 – December 15!    i know our illustrious presidential yam is trying to gut the entirety of the ACA, including the tax penalties for being uninsured that are intended to encourage enrollment, but think how much it would piss him off if even more people were able to get coverage under the ACA this year.  

if you don’t know where to start, there’s a handy dandy website for it, so no worries! 

if you are already on a marketplace plan, go here.  

before open enrollment starts, you should receive notice of your current coverage status so that you know where you stand right now and where to go if you want ot keep your current insurer, as well as impending coverage changes with that plan, and a notice from your state’s marketplace with plan options, instructions to apply, and instructions re: if any documentation will be required to be submitted during enrollment.

if you’re starting fresh with buying via the exchanges (marketplace), go here.  

you can identify if you’re eligible for any subsidies or tax credits based on your income level and figure out what documentation you might need to apply with so that you’re ready with all of your shiny paperwork to sign up when enrollment opens.

if you start looking at your options and realize that health insurance via the exchanges is a financial pipe dream re: financial status, go here!  

you might be eligible for medicaid.  eligibility varies, as medicaid programs are state-run, so you’ll have to identifty if you qualify under you state’s allowances.  as a warning, eligibility for medicaid is incredibly inconsistent across state lines: states set a ceiling (aka, how much income you’re allowed to earn before you’re no longer eligible for medicaid coverage) that is based on the federal poverty level.  basically, the federal government sets what it determines to be an appropriate level of income at which an individual/family would considered in poverty if they were below it, and states basically set their medicaid guidelines for eligibility as a percentage of the FPL: in 2017, the state of oregon’s medicaid eligibility level was set at 138% of the FPL for a family of three, while texas set eligibility for a family of three at 18% of the FPL.  

medicare is also an option. 

medicare eligiblity is based on age (65 or older) and/or disability status.  you can also be dual eligible for medicare and medicaid.  

in short, don’t forget to sign up for your health insurance!  as with last year, i’m always here to take questions anyone has about eligibility, requirements, plans and/or coverage differences, and general inquiries into the health care system’s disastrous current and future state.