My daughter (11) and I (50) are now covered under individual plans from Anthem Blue Cross in CA. We currently have the option, expiring on June 30th, to switch from our current plans which are "Grandfathered" under the ACA, to new "non-grandfathered" plans. This option was apparently the fallout from a class-action settlement in the state of CA.
There seem to be a number of complicated arguments on both sides of the switch vs. don't switch decision.
Switch -
* Get out of a pool that is now in the process of shrinking, which will probably result in adverse selection and premium increases down the road.
* Get into a plan with presumably better protections for me as a consumer since it is covered by the ACA.
Don't switch -
* Avoid premium increases that will occur down the road as Anthem is forced to adopt ACA-driven provisions in their coverage.
* My investigatory call to Anthem led to talking with a sales agent who had obviously been strongly coached to plug this option - given my trust level in Anthem, not a good sign...
* The new plans available to us seem to be somewhat more expensive for a given level of coverage (although this difference could be swamped by premium increases pretty easily)
"Wait and See" -
* We could also roll the dice to see what materializes down the road - any future premium increase between now and 2013 will once again open the door for us to switch out of our current plans
Just looking for insights from this community on the best choice, or other considerations...
There seem to be a number of complicated arguments on both sides of the switch vs. don't switch decision.
Switch -
* Get out of a pool that is now in the process of shrinking, which will probably result in adverse selection and premium increases down the road.
* Get into a plan with presumably better protections for me as a consumer since it is covered by the ACA.
Don't switch -
* Avoid premium increases that will occur down the road as Anthem is forced to adopt ACA-driven provisions in their coverage.
* My investigatory call to Anthem led to talking with a sales agent who had obviously been strongly coached to plug this option - given my trust level in Anthem, not a good sign...
* The new plans available to us seem to be somewhat more expensive for a given level of coverage (although this difference could be swamped by premium increases pretty easily)
"Wait and See" -
* We could also roll the dice to see what materializes down the road - any future premium increase between now and 2013 will once again open the door for us to switch out of our current plans
Just looking for insights from this community on the best choice, or other considerations...
