Health Insurance Exchanges Required to Open This Month. You May Qualify for a Free or Low-Cost Plan

KEY POINTS

• Close to four million uninsured individuals will be eligible for a zero premium payment plan, while 4.9 million others could get subsidies with greatly reduced costs.
• As part of the American Rescue Plan package, the White House has increased the financial help available on the state’s and federal health insurance exchange.
• If you’re currently covered or new to the process and need assistance. We are here to help.

If you are among the millions of individuals across the country with no health or medical insurance, there is a chance you will be able to change that soon.  Either through the federal health insurance exchange or your state exchange, depending on where you live.

A special enrollment period, that kicked off on February 15th and will run all the way through till August 15th, allows individuals to opt for a plan through the federal Affordable Care Act health exchange. After the President’s authorization via executive order last month, the reopening will be a part of the administration’s effort to extend affordable coverage to a larger number of people across the country.

“If you are uninsured, there is a very good chance you could get free or low-cost coverage,” said Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation and director of its ACA program. “A lot of people can get either new Medicaid programs or a free to low-cost plan on the exchange,” Cox said.

Why Now?

Before the pandemic, close to 30 million people were living without any health insurance, and since then, this number has been increasing every day. And if that wasn’t bad enough. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, due to the downward trend in employment, an estimate of two to three million workers have lost their employer-based health plans in the time between March and September of last year.

Most enrolled individuals receive subsidies in tax credits that significantly reduce the overall cost of their premiums. Furthermore, these individuals can also qualify for other cost-sharing programs, like help in paying their deductibles.

According to Kaiser, close to 4 million individuals with no health or medical coverage can get a plan through the exchange that comes with no premium payments. While 4.9 million more can get subsidies that help reduce the cost of such plans.

The White House is also working on pushing an increase in the total number of subsidies granted as part of this next economic relief package, which Congress is currently working on. This will significantly help many

people with their health insurance plans as, according to ValuePenguin.com, 45% of people aren’t happy with the cost of their current plans. Many claim the cost of such plans are still higher than what they expected.

The Push to Qualify More People

According to the ehealth 2020 ACA index report, the average national unsubsidized premium for a “silver” plan, done through the ACA exchange, costs $462 per month. However, this amount is subject to change as costs vary from place to place and whether you qualify for a subsidiary or not.

In the United States, there is a federal poverty level amount that changes yearly with inflation. If your family income, based on the household size, is less than 4x of that amount, then you are eligible for premium subsidiaries. In simpler words, a family of two would qualify, with income ranging from $12,760 to $51,040, while for families of four, it would be $26,200 to $104,800.  However, those amounts are currently being increased at this very moment and we will soon be able to provide subsides for even higher income brackets.