What if I already have private insurance?
What if I have a pre-existing condition?
Beginning on January 14, 2014 all U.S. citizens and legal residents would have to obtain coverage or face a tax penalty.
- Subsidies will be available to assist low-income individuals with the purchase of private health insurance.
- Medicaid will be expanded to provide coverage to the poor.
- Qualifying individuals will be able to get coverage through health insurance exchanges.
The health insurance exchanges will be a marketplace regulated by the state. It will give people whose employers don’t offer insurance the change to join a larger pool of people. These insurance exchanges will give you the chance to choose from a variety of plans and show standardized packages, so that you can comparison shop and get the best value at the lowest price.
- In June 2010, temporary insurance mechanisms will be set up to provide coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and for non-Medicare eligible retirees over 55. (These will end when the exchanges are up and running).
If you have Medicare, you can expect to see your benefits increase in the next few years. Some of these changes include
- Free yearly physical
- Free preventative care
- cheaper brand-name drugs
- closure of the Medicare “donut hole” by providing rebates for people who fall into this gap.
The Medicare Prescription drug gap is called a “donut hole.” This means that after you and your plan have spent a certain amount of money for covered drugs, you have to pay all costs out-of-pocket for your drugs up to a limit. Your yearly deductible, your coinsurance or copayments, and what you pay in the coverage gap all count toward this out-of-pocket limit.
What if I already have private health insurance?
If you already have private insurance, then that won’t change. What will change is that if something happens and you lose your health insurance coverage because of illness job loss, etc there will be other options available to you.
Insurance companies will no longer be able to place lifetime limits on the amount of care they pay for. They will also have to provide simple and easy-to-understand plans so that you know exactly what is in your insurance coverage.
Under the reform, if you are an employer, you won’t be required to provide coverage.
Large employers will be charged a “free rider” assessment if their employees purchase health care coverage through the exchange with federal premium subsidies.
Small businesses can receive subsidies to offer insurance as well as access to the exchange.
What if I have a pre-existing condition?
Starting on 2014, health insurance companies will no longer be able to refuse you coverage if you have a pre-existing condition like cancer, diabetes or heart disease. They also won’t be able to deny coverage of services, or charge excessively higher premiums.
Six months after the law is enacted, a high risk pool will be created to provide immediate insurance for people with pre-existing conditions. This will be in place until the insurance exchanges are up and running.
The biggest change happens this year and will allow you an extension your parent’s plan until you are 26, as long as you aren’t offered an insurance plan from your employer.
Starting in 2014, you will be allowed to stay on your parent’s plan until you are 26, even if their employer offers an insurance plan.
You will also be eligible for all of the same insurance benefits as uninsured people of all ages. This includes tax credits to buy insurance from the exchange programs.
