Goo
d idea. Poor execution.
By David P. Schaeffer
The Affordable Care Act is still a hotbed of
controversy. My point of view is not political,
it’s practical. We have hundreds of clients that
are under the age of 65 and covered on
individual health insurance plans. It should
really be called "The Available Care Act." I
think we all agree that every American has a
right to purchase healthcare without question
of pre-existing conditions. The late Senator
Kennedy pushed for this right for most of his
career. Our current president made it his
purpose to get it passed into law.
Here we are six years later...
The good:
Everyone is approved for health insurance
coverage. Everyone, of the same age, pays the
same rate regardless of health. Every plan
limits your maximum annual liability to $6850
or less on some plans(in 2016).
The bad:
For married folks with incomes above
$60,000, most plans have a $5,000-$6,000
deductible. The plans are mostly network
based with brand new networks. It’s hard to
find your current doctors on any plan.
Many folks, that qualify for a subsidy or not,
still can’t afford coverage or the deductible.
The ugly:
Insurance companies were promised, by the
federal government, to be reimbursed if they
lost money in the first 3 years. The government
reneged and did not pay as promised. One
local carrier lost in excess of $91,000,000 in
2015. I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot
of money for a relatively small insurance
company to absorb in one year. In 2014, that
same company lost $92,000,000 on policy holders covered under the Affordable Care Act plans.
2017 will be interesting. We are getting requests daily for solutions.
Many underage 65 individual plans will not be available in 2017. Blue
Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and United Healthcare are not offering
any plans in Maricopa County. Aetna has stated it will not offer plans
via Healthcare.gov (on exchange) but will offer off-exchange plans. No
word as of 8/16/16 as to Cigna, HealthNet, Healthchoice, Humana or
Phoenix Health.
Stay tuned for updates as they become available and are verified.
