Preview of 2018 ACA plans is LIVE

[bobandsherry]

I tried to go back and edit my post about the PTC being a non-refundable tax credit, but it's too late to change it. Clearly, I was incorrect. Maybe a mod can fix that.



Spouses CAN buy different plans. You apply as a married couple, using your combined income. The subsidy is calculated for you as a couple. Then, before you get to the part where you pick plans there is an option for GROUPS. Put one of you in a group, put the other spouse in a second group.

The result is that you each get half of your joint subsidy, to be applied to the plan that you each select. That's how it was done for the last few years.

I'm not seeing any option for "groups". I put in info about myself and spouse and then prompted for my estimated income. Once I do that I get a screen for "savings estimate" with only option to "continue". After that I get "Review your information" screen and "continue to plans".

Perhaps different for each state? Or because it's only the preview?

 

[Sue J]

The preview won't show the option for groups. It's part of the application process. It may even be after you submit your application and get your Eligibility Notice, which is a .pdf that tells you the official amount of your subsidy.

 

[bobandsherry]

The preview won't show the option for groups. It's part of the application process. It may even be after you submit your application and get your Eligibility Notice, which is a .pdf that tells you the official amount of your subsidy.

Thanks!

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I tried to go back and edit my post about the PTC being a non-refundable tax credit, but it's too late to change it. Clearly, I was incorrect. Maybe a mod can fix that.

:thumbsup:

I bless the day that 1040 software came out and saved countless filers from having to decipher IRS gobbledygook. If you have taken on that task as a profession or avocation, you have my admiration and sympathy.

Obviously, our premium tax credit for 2016 exceeded our advance premium tax credit. The 2016 IRS instructions for Form 8962 said that could happen, and that some filers could receive a refund as a result.

 

[Plantman]

I am currently on a silver BCBS plan that will be discontinued. Worried about the csr subsidies being eliminated for next years plans. I see the quotes showing oop and deductibles with csr subsidies being applied. What happens if csr subsidies are eliminated? Will those numbers go up to the unsubsidized figure? It would be better to just get a bronze plan then to save on the monthly premium. Any thoughts?

 

[MichaelB]

I am currently on a silver BCBS plan that will be discontinued. Worried about the csr subsidies being eliminated for next years plans. I see the quotes showing oop and deductibles with csr subsidies being applied. What happens if csr subsidies are eliminated? Will those numbers go up to the unsubsidized figure? It would be better to just get a bronze plan then to save on the monthly premium. Any thoughts?

No if. It happened. Here, look over this thread, it should help you understand your options. Then go back to the beginning of this thread and look it over.

 

[Plantman]

Thank you MichaelB! I had missed that post.

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

We used the cheapest Bronze plan last year, as we are pretty healthy, knock on wood and used HSA to pay any medicals. We were paying 186 for both of us (62,63) on $45K income . We didn't have any doctors in our county. Just checked and we now have OSCAR as a provider, lower deductible, and doctors in our town! And cost would be $11 dollars, yes $11 dollars a month for both of us!!

 

[sengsational]

So I hope I understand tax law correctly..

HSA eligible plan is basically Zero premium vs $205 for cheapest silver plan. So that gives me $2400 of health care to use to be "equal".

I can put that $2400 into the HSA from taxable accounts (but I don't pay taxes because its all qualified dividends/LTCG), however I can roll over an additional $2400 into my rIRA and basically they cancel each other out.

So basically the HSA plan allows me to rollover more money tax free into my rIRA PLUS add tax free money to my HSA, so then I'd have $4800 in tax free money with no taxes paid.

Does that seem right? because I played with turbotax and that seemed to be what happened.

I think you've got it!

The "logic" is really whacky, so like you, I just play around with the tax software to see what moves.

My situation this year has me getting the cheapest Bronze plan (we are low utilizers), maxing-out the HSA, and pulling as much as I can from the 401k before going over the 400% cliff. The PTC completely pays for the Bronze policy this year since my SLCSP is expensive. I pay for health expenses directly (not out of the HSA) because I want the HSA funds to compound. The 'problem' with that is that I need to keep track of all my health related expenses to be able to pull tax free from the HSA at a later date.

 

[explanade]

Anthem Blue Cross, my 2017 Covered CA (ACA Exchange) plan, is being discontinued in most of California except a few counties, including my county.

I got a mailing from them a few weeks ago saying 2018 premium is $187 more a month or 36% higher.

I logged into CoveredCA and it's a bit better, the premium increase is more like $160 higher.

It was the lowest Bronze plan in the exchange last year and now it's in the middle, bypassing Kaiser which was higher last year.

Ugh.

I could switch to an HMO which will save me over $200 a month in premiums but the provider network is completely different. And it's not HSA compatible despite the high deductible.

 

[walkinwood]

Our Kaiser bronze HSA plan premium is going up 38% after a 27% increase last year. It is still the least expensive HSA plan available to us in Denver.

I really, really hope that this doesn't continue. I have years to go before medicare.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

OK. Update as promised using an Agent. She managed to source DW and I a Silver Plan with $0 Deductible, and $2450 MOOP Per Person. With Wait for it..... a Whopping $0 Pm Premium. All our current docs and specialists are in the plan.

The closest alternative with a $600 Deductible PP and the same $2450 PP was $140 pm ($1680 pa). So based on last years use, we should be fine. emergencies regardless will most likely reach MOOP so that would be a wash.

The ONLY difference between the 2 plans above are that the $0 premium one uses a Co-insurance of 40% for a few (Very Few) services vs standard Copays, and emergency Room is $600 instead of $400. Otherwise they are pretty much identical.

Regardless MOOP is $2450 Per Person. I think that is not a bad deal considering the current instability in the industry. Now Florida blue has monopoly in Florida covering up to 2m folks on the exchange. I am not sure they could afford to pull out.

 

[Sue J]

ShokWaveRider,

Is the plan that the agent found for you also available on HealthCare.gov? Are the details the same?

Nice deal, BTW.

We aren't applying right away. I've been refining my spreadsheets, comparing options, including income options if we use an HSA. DH doesn't do numbers well and he asked for info to be in "bullet points" with simple explanations.

For 2017 we used a Silver plan with $25 copay for office visits and all our prescriptions were at no cost for 90 mail order through CVS Caremark. Deductible was $5000 with an MOOP of $5700. We had a very healthy year (knock on wood) and barely made a dent in our deductible.

For 2018 this Silver plan price went way up (38.5%) and the Rxs are no longer at no cost. We have some Bronze options that are looking very good, for very little cost after the subsidy. There is a Bronze HSA plan that is a good possibility.

I wish we could count on another low medical cost year like 2017. But in 2015 I was diagnosed with kidney stones. I never had any pain, never had one pass. The nephrologist said to check back in a year. I know I've been lucky. Just something to keep in mind.

The accountant in me likes the HSA idea. We still have money in an HSA from 2015. Thinking...thinking....

 

[ShokWaveRider]

ShokWaveRider,

Is the plan that the agent found for you also available on HealthCare.gov? Are the details the same?

Nice deal, BTW.

Yes, but the cost sharing was not applied on the website as much as she explained to me. She uses her own portal.

 

[CoolChange]

How to Select an Agent

OK. Update as promised using an Agent....

ShokWaveRider,

Apologies if you already answered this elsewhere; but, where did you find your agent? I have asked local friends and coworkers but had no useful referrals. (Most of the folks I have spoken with in person did not see much, if any, benefit to using an agent.)

I don’t need to sit down with someone physically (email, phone, etc. is fine by me). I am just looking for someone as good as your agent who can work in my state, Missouri.

This just seems like the kind of work that would be well suited to remote, work from home, etc.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

ShokWaveRider,

Apologies if you already answered this elsewhere; but, where did you find your agent? I have asked local friends and coworkers but had no useful referrals. (Most of the folks I have spoken with in person did not see much, if any, benefit to using an agent.)

I don’t need to sit down with someone physically (email, phone, etc. is fine by me). I am just looking for someone as good as your agent who can work in my state, Missouri.

This just seems like the kind of work that would be well suited to remote, work from home, etc.

Mine is in Florida and only works with Florida Blue. I checked the Yellow pages and phoned around places that specialized in health insurance locally. Then picked the one closest to me. We have never actually met, but I know the company she works for.

 

[GTFan]

Yes, but the cost sharing was not applied on the website as much as she explained to me. She uses her own portal.

I'm still not getting how an agent would be able to see CSR'd plans that are in any way different than what you can see on HC.gov. Those plans are exchange-only and are exactly what HC.gov is supposed to present. In my county, e.g., there are many different CSR'd Silver plans for both providers (Ambetter and Kaiser) but due to the nature of how CSR'd plans work the cheapest premium option is always the best choice. I was able to enroll yesterday morning and HC.gov had already moved us to the exact Ambetter plan that I would've picked anyway (BCBS left our area so HC.gov picked the new plan if we didn't do anything).

What's your zip code, I'll take a look.

 

[ripper1]

The perils of being 60-64 years with obamacare. My new rate has jumped to 1473 a month from 1000 last year. This is the best rate I can get through the healthcare.gov site.

 

[Rianne]

These new plans sent us into a state of confusion. The silver plan will be 40% more expensive overall than bronze, if you take the entire year expenses meaning out of pocket totals. We hired a broker to explain the details of all coinsurance and what we'd be responsible for in case of a catastrophic event. The broker is paid by the insurance co. so no cost to us. Deductibles and out of pocket are often the same, but not always. We're digging into the minutia of every conceivable event, who and what procedures are out of network.

It seems a low monthly premium is worth the higher deductible.

'

 

[karen1972]

Today I ran multiple plans Bronze vs. Silver

Low Use - Save $1873 w/ Bronze
Medium Use - Save $840 w/ Bronze
High Use - Save $1170 w/ Bronze

So based on their Estimates, EVERY case is cheaper with the Bronze plan!!!

The problem for me has always been the Silver plans have higher premiums + Co-Pays, and the co-pays which don't end until you hit that "max Out of pocket" which is higher on the Silver plan than the Bronze plan.

 

[ripper1]

For all intents and purposes it seems the Bronze plan is the best. Just don't get sick.

 

[bobandsherry]

I'm still not getting how an agent would be able to see CSR'd plans that are in any way different than what you can see on HC.gov. .

I'd be curious if there's additional plans through agent. One way I can see how agent gets higher CSR, but unethical and even illegal, is by putting in a lower expected income.

 

[RockyMtn]

Signed my GF up today. Same plan as last year with all of same Dr's and hospitals. Premium of $59 for Silver plan per month after subsidies/cost sharing. $50 deductible and $1150 yearly MOP. Premium actually dropped by $2.00 per month.

Took all of 5 minutes. Much improvement over a couple of years ago as far as the sign up part is concerned.

 

[Taxman59]

Just signed up for 2018. Same policy as 2017 with a lower deductible ($800 in 2018 vs $1,000 in 2017) and slightly higher MOOP ($2450 vs $2350 in 2017). Premium is down $4 per month (net of subsidy I will pay $146 per month for DW and DS (and myself of course)) Agent called be 5 minutes earlier than the appointment, and we took a total of 10 minutes to go through the process. No complaints this year (so far, apparently there are some issues with billing that are expected but we won't know if we are affected until late December)

 

[MichaelB]

It's possible in the case of ShokWaveRider, the agent is a Florida BCBS rep that works for a separate enterprise they set up, with offices across the state to deal with individual policies. Last time I checked Fl BCBS did not work with independent insurance agents.

There can't be a difference in premium or terms. All the policies offered by BCBS that are eligible for premium assistance must go through the exchange, and all those policies can be seen at Healthcare.gov.

Healthcare.gov might be providing estimated premiums and subsidies, while the agent is giving exact numbers. This could explain a perceived difference between the two.