Friday, December 12, 2014

Big Changes in the Fine Print of Some 2015 Obamacare Plans

At first glance, the 2015 health plans offered by the Ohio nonprofit insurer CareSource look a lot like the ones it sold this year, in the Affordable Care Act’s first enrollment season. The monthly premiums are nearly identical, and the deductibles are the same.
But tucked within the plans’ jargon are changes that could markedly affect how much consumers pay for health care. Generic drugs will soon be free, but the cost of expensive specialty medications will increase. Co-payments for visits to primary-care doctors will go down, but those for emergency room trips will be higher.
Millions of people nationwide bought health insurance this year through the federal government’s health insurance exchange, often through the website Healthcare.gov. Now, as they pick plans for next year, they face a complex battery of choices and changes.
They have until Dec. 15 to select a new plan or they’ll be re-enrolled automatically in the one they currently have. Or, if that plan no longer exists, they’ll be enrolled in another product offered by the same insurer, when available. But even if they get the same plan — of the nearly 2,800 health plans offered in 2014, about 1,700 of them will exist in the same form next year — their benefits may not stay the same.
The open enrollment season for health insurance plans under 
the Affordable Care Act is open until Feb. 15, 2015. CLICK 
HERE for ProPublica’s interactive tool, which lets you compare 
plans–narrowing them down to what’s available before you 
renew your insurance through the federal exchange.
“You’re getting re-enrolled in the same carrier, but there’s basically no guarantees that your product looks anywhere near the same as it did last year,” said Caroline Pearson, vice president of Avalere Health, a consulting firm.
Much attention has focused on changes to plans’ monthly premiums, but changes to other kinds of benefits — affecting the cost of things like doctors’ visits and prescriptions — can be trickier to understand and make a huge difference in annual health care costs.
A ProPublica analysis of the 2014 and 2015 plans in 34 states being offered on the exchange shows the adjustments taking place. ProPublica has created a tool that allows users to see, quickly and easily, some significant ways the plans have changed from one year to the next.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Go away Obama your not wanted neither is your rip off health care I am now unemployed because I can't afford your forced health care so I have to be unemployed so I can get insurance from the state