Healthcare.gov -Anyone enrolled with subsidy yet?

[shotgunner]

Just checking in as I am not a frequent visitor to this site. If you can't purchase your insurance through Healthcare.gov because of technical issues what are your backup plans?

I am hoping einsurance will be have their portal up and running by mid November. If not I guess I will have to buy a plan direct from an insurer such as Anthem off the exchange, pay full price to maintain coverage. Have set a personal date of 12/10 to do this. Then if I can, cancel it sometime in 2014 IF healthcare.gov starts to work and buy a subsidy eligible policy.

 

[ziggy29]

I've already gotten to the point where I can select a plan with a subsidy (starting as low as about $40 a month net of the tax credit). But I've stopped because my application isn't reflecting my Indian status which makes a big difference in terms of having monthly enrollment periods and no cost sharing below 300% of the poverty line. Someone from the "advanced resolution team" has confirmed this is a problem with many of the applications and I got the standard reply, "try again in about a month".

Worst case, I have other options. I can pay $200 a month for the same Bronze plan (with no cost sharing and a $6000 deductible) while I fight to get my Indian status recognized (hoping I don't get sick during that time), I can ask my wife's employer (a church) to reduce her 2014 pay by the $350 a month it would cost to put me on their benefits plan (that includes dental and a $500 a year in a "wellness account" for medical expenses), or we can ask them to rescind their offer to provide her benefits for 2014 if the benefits administrator will allow it and we'd both go off the exchange (we already have an application for both of us that properly reflects my Indian status for less than they are paying for her benefits). But I'd really like to get this resolved soon -- this has to be done by November 22 in our case. And worst case, we are learning what we should do in 2015 and beyond.

 

[jflynn4]

Just checking in as I am not a frequent visitor to this site. If you can't purchase your insurance through Healthcare.gov because of technical issues what are your backup plans?

I am hoping einsurance will be have their portal up and running by mid November. If not I guess I will have to buy a plan direct from an insurer such as Anthem off the exchange, pay full price to maintain coverage. Have set a personal date of 12/10 to do this. Then if I can, cancel it sometime in 2014 IF healthcare.gov starts to work and buy a subsidy eligible policy.

Yes ... I've enrolled with subsidy and have already received a "welcome letter" from the insurer as well as the first premium bill that has to be paid by December 14th to have coverage in place.

I apparently was one of the few lucky enough to be able to get through early in the process ... (Figured out early on to use Internet Explorer, delete cookies & history, etc).

There is no question in my mind that they'll have the system up and running in time for everyone who wants subsidized coverage to be able to get it. (Probably won't be running super smoothly but will be sufficient to get done what needs to be done).

My guess is that they'll keep it running with duct tape, paper clips, and chewing gum through to April 1st at which time it'll be taken offline for a complete rework to be fully ready in time to show off for the fall elections.

 

[Dawg52]

Nope, I gave up. My current insurer will keep me insured until the end of 2014 so I will deal with it then. Hopefully the system will be running better by then.

 

[HFWR]

My guess is that they'll keep it running with duct tape, paper clips, and chewing gum through to April 1st at which time it'll be taken offline for a complete rework to be fully ready in time to show off for the fall elections.

They apparently have real computer geeks from google and such working on it now...

 

[RitaR551]

I was to get a call from our insurance company to work with me on getting enrolled. No call, so I called them. The same cheerful guy I talked to the first time sounded a bit less cheerful this time. He said the ACA site is down and not working right, so he can't get on to verify any supplemental we may qualify for. He said try again in a couple weeks.

 

[rockymountainhigh]

I am in Colorado so we have our own marketplace. I started the process on Oct 3rd. I am currently waiting for the IRS to confirm my subsidy. At least that is what I was told by a marketplace rep. I had no problems with Colorado's web site.

 

[fisherman]

Yes. Signed up for the policy I selected after reviewing for a couple of weeks. I had 73 different policies to choose from. The selected policy is from BCBS and is far superior to my current individual policy. With subsidy less than half what I was paying. with no subsidy I would buy it as it is much better than what I had.

It worked pretty well for me once I turned off my pop up and ad blocker for the healthcare.gov site and cleared my cache. I had a fair number of problems before then but this fixed them all. When I clicked enroll it took me to the BCBS site and form there I was able to enter my CC info and now have a transaction # where they will take the first month payment.

I was also offered dental at a better rate than ever before on the individual market but did not need it due to a good fried who is a dentist. The kids are covered for dental through the new health insurance policy as well as vision. This is a really nice additional benefit. Adults can add dental if desired and many reasonable choices where available.

One happy camper here!!!

 

[tomz]

I was able to sign up and enroll in a plan with a subsidy. I have confirmed with the insurer that I was enrolled. I'm waiting for the invoice. The insurer (BCBS of Fl) told me the automated payment wouldn't work because I already had a plan with them.

When I enrolled on healthcare.gov, I finished the enrollment but it wasn't showing complete. BCBS of FL has an option where you create an account, log in to healthcare.gov to get the subsidy data, then you get returned to the BCBS site to finish. I tried it and it seemed to work. 2 days later healthcare.gov showed my enrollment as complete. I hope I don't get 2 bills for the same policy.

 

[Tandemlovers]

We were approved for a subsidy last week and were able to download a copy of our eligibility letter.

We have not been able to look at plans offered in our area due to what I think was a mistake I made
during the application process. I am a homemaker and therefore have no "income," but we are getting
an error message asking for proof of my income. I am not able to access our application as it is "locked."

So, we are waiting for the ACA rep to call and hopefully help resolve the problem. Since we will not be
needing insurance until February, we are not too worried.

 

[gbstack]

After several attempts I was able to complete the application and pick my plan. I received a message that my provider will contact me about payment options. I still have an unresolved issue – see below.
You have unresolved inconsistencies. You need to provide additional documentation.

You need to send the Marketplace proof of your yearly income for 2014. Examples of
documents you can send include:
· Wages and tax statement (W-2)
· Pay stub
· Letter from employer
· Cost of living adjustment letter and other benefit verification notices
· Lease agreement
· Copy of a check paid to the household member
· Bank or investment fund statement
· Document or letter from Social Security Administration (SSA)
· Form SSA 1099 Social Security benefits statement
· Self-employed ledger
· Letter from government agency for unemployment benefits
If you do not provide documentation by the following date, your eligibility for health care coverage
may end: February 2, 2014

 

[rbmrtn]

I am a lot closer tonight. My identity verification has been sitting "pending" after uploading documents 3 weeks ago. After reading some blog sites I decided to start over with new email, ID, account setup. Also cleaned/deleted IE history/cache on each use.

Made it all the way through this time. no glitches and am able to look at plans and have a subsidy.

 

[joe8012]

I applied three weeks ago. So far it states "in progress" pending ID verification. I looked at the back door premiums and it looks like $1400 month for wife and I for a silver plan. We are just outside the subsidy range. So while I wait for that to be confirmed, we are looking at other options like underwritten plans and medi-share.

 

[audreyh1]

Why are people considering silver plans (as opposed to Bronze). Just wondering.

 

[MichaelB]

Why are people considering silver plans (as opposed to Bronze). Just wondering.

Using the spreadsheet Anamorph built, the total cost difference between the two Humana HSA plans (available to us) is less than $1k at lower expense levels, favoring bronze, and after the third clip level ($3K?) the silver plan is the best option from that point on. In addition, the out of network total OOP for the silver is half that of the bronze.

I was surprised by this but will definitely choose the lower deductible if there is little cost advantage to the bronze plan.

 

[audreyh1]

Using the spreadsheet Anamorph built, the total cost difference between the two Humana HSA plans (available to us) is less than $1k at lower expense levels, favoring bronze, and after the third clip level ($3K?) the silver plan is the best option from that point on. In addition, the out of network total OOP for the silver is half that of the bronze.

I was surprised by this but will definitely choose the lower deductible if there is little cost advantage to the bronze plan.

Your silver plan is HSA compliant? None of the silver plans I see are.

 

[MichaelB]

Your silver plan is HSA compliant? None of the silver plans I see are.

Humana says it is. http://apps.humana.com/marketing/documents.asp?file=2148640

Save for healthcare expenses with a Health Savings Account (HSA) – With the Humana National Preferred Silver 3650/3650 Plan with Children’s Dental, you can set aside tax-free money to pay for qualified medical expenses with an HSA.

 

[ziggy29]

Why are people considering silver plans (as opposed to Bronze). Just wondering.

Some folks with lower incomes get cost-sharing benefits (lower deductibles and OOP maximums) with silver plans that aren't available for bronze plans.

 

[audreyh1]

Humana says it is. http://apps.humana.com/marketing/documents.asp?file=2148640

OK I'll recheck that one for TX.

 

[rbmrtn]

Some folks with lower incomes get cost-sharing benefits (lower deductibles and OOP maximums) with silver plans that aren't available for bronze plans.

I think that will be the only thing now, below 250% FPL there is addition cost sharing for a silver plan.

It seems that with OOPM now limited to $6350 for all plans the only difference you are paying for is how low your deductible is and how the nickles and dimes are spread out above the deductible till the OOPM is hit.

 

[bamsphd]

Why are people considering silver plans (as opposed to Bronze). Just wondering.

Cost sharing requires Silver, so if you can get below $250% of poverty you will probably pick Silver. That won't apply to our household. I'm debating between a Silver HSA policy and a Gold standard policy.

My spread sheet has been based on self + spouse coverage, assuming no subsidy for non-HSA plans, and a subsidy equal to 15% of the $6550 family contribution for HSA eligible plans.

Assuming we never use any medical services (fat chance):

cheapest Bronze: HSA costs $6,182

cheapest Silver: HSA costs $7,720

cheapest Gold: non-HSA costs $10,331

Instead assume we repeat our past year's spending:

cheapest Bronze: HSA costs $13,182

cheapest Silver: non-HSA costs $12,531 (HSA version costs $12,720)

cheapest Gold: non-HSA costs $12,831

What if one of us hits the Medical Individual deductible with no other expenses:

cheapest Bronze: HSA costs $18,882

cheapest Silver: non-HSA costs $13,781 (HSA version costs $15,720)

cheapest Gold: non-HSA costs $13,831

Assume we both have bad years and hit the family medical OOP max

cheapest Bronze: HSA costs $18,882

cheapest Silver: HSA costs $15,720 (non-HSA version costs $18,781)

cheapest Gold: non-HSA costs $17,331

I'm pretty confident none of the above scenarios will actually match our spending. However, I think they make it clear that Bronze does NOT equal cheapest over all cost if you will voluntarily visit a medical professional. In truth, the new federal rules keep all the plans much closer than I would have predicted.

 

[audreyh1]

So you spent $11,000 last year on medical expenses?

I can see how someone with high medical expenses might do better with a more expensive plan, but when I did some of the initial calcs I wasn't seeing the benefit for my personal case.

 

[bamsphd]

So you spent $11,000 last year on medical expenses? .

Oops, thanks I had a typo (now fixed). That line should read:
cheapest Bronze: HSA costs $13,182

Actually our spend numbers assume one of us spends $5,000 and the other spends $2,000. Which is what our current insurance company paid out rounded to then nearest $1,000.

 

[Rpharmer]

The out-of-pocket max can, just like the deductible, be substantially lower in a Silver plan, if MAGI is below 250% of FPL. And, if you can get it down to 150% of FPL, the cost-savings are incredible:

In Kansas City, MO, a MAGI of $16000 will get you a plan with BCBS with a deductible of $250.00 and an out-of-pocket max of $500.00 (male, non-smoker, age 58.) The premium after subsidy is $160/mo. There are cheaper plans, but they have restricted networks. The above plan is Preferred Care Blue, a truly premier PPO.

Now, obviously, getting your MAGI that low won't be possible if you have too much fixed taxable income like a pension. But, if you're "lucky" and only have IRAs and Roths, it's easy. If you realized last year that 2012 1040's would be the "benchmark" and set your MAGI accordingly then, it appears that you're good to go.

 

[audreyh1]

Oops, thanks I had a typo (now fixed). That line should read:
cheapest Bronze: HSA costs $13,182

Actually our spend numbers assume one of us spends $5,000 and the other spends $2,000. Which is what our current insurance company paid out rounded to then nearest $1,000.

Looks like in the third example you are having both of you hit the deductible for the bronze case instead of just one of you.