ACA 2021 Plan Preview available

[Sue J]

https://www.healthcare.gov/see-plans/#/

You can put in your info and see plans, costs and subsidy amounts before open enrollment.

We are both on Medicare now but I always found the preview to be helpful. You can adjust income levels easily and see the difference it makes in your subsidy. Very handy if you have the ability to control your taxable income.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

No increase for DW this year, same plan, same location. Plus she partakes in their cost reduction plan got reimbursed for 6 of her plan premiums in 2020.

 

[Rianne]

Thanks for that link, Sue! Ours basically the same, high deductible HSA approved. We're still going to have our insurance broker sign us up on Nov. 4th. No charge to us.

 

[audreyh1]

Thanks for that link, Sue! Ours basically the same, high deductible HSA approved. We're still going to have our insurance broker sign us up on Nov. 4th. No charge to us.

If it’s the same plan no need to sign up. If the same plan is available, you continue by default.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

If it’s the same plan no need to sign up. If the same plan is available, you continue by default.

It's still a good idea to go through the process again and validate you want the same plan. Also, if you qualify for premium subsidies, you want to make sure you're income estimates are up-to-date and view what the calculated subsidy for 2021 could be. It might have changed due to pricing in other available plans.

 

[audreyh1]

Sure, I read the plan docs to make sure no meaningful changes. But that’s it. We have very limited choices of plans that meet our desires.

No subsidies here.

 

[golfnut]

Initial screen onsite says "preview 2020 plans and estimated prices".

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Initial screen onsite says "preview 2020 plans and estimated prices".

Clear your browser cache. You should see “Preview 2021 Plans now. Enroll starting November 1, 2020.”

 

[golfnut]

Clear your browser cache. You should see “Preview 2021 Plans now. Enroll starting November 1, 2020.”

Thanks for this advice.

 

[Dtail]

No increase for DW this year, same plan, same location. Plus she partakes in their cost reduction plan got reimbursed for 6 of her plan premiums in 2020.

Hey SWR,
Doesn't she use the BCBS Silver 1443 plan if you wish to divulge?
I see a decent increase for my brother and I for that plan.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Hey SWR,
Doesn't she use the BCBS Silver 1443 plan if you wish to divulge?
I see a decent increase for my brother and I for that plan.

Yes, exactly that plan 1443. It is quite popular here. All our friends that are not on Medicare have it. Has the best providers.

 

[Dtail]

Yes, exactly that plan 1443. It is quite popular here. All our friends that are not on Medicare have it. Has the best providers.

Thanks. That is what I thought. That is the plan I have used for 3 years. Great doctor coverage.
However our premiums have moved up from 67 monthly to close to 200 monthly while keeping MAGI under 150% FPL.
Still a great rate but hmmmm.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

However our premiums have moved up from 67 monthly to close to 200 monthly while keeping MAGI under 150% FPL.
Still a great rate but hmmmm.

We get our broker to do it. She Keeps our MAGI at minimum and just pay the difference at the end of the year on our taxes. We can easily control our own MAGI as all our living funds are after tax.

 

[Rianne]

If it’s the same plan no need to sign up. If the same plan is available, you continue by default.

Our income from DH consulting changed a bit. We received a letter from the insurance co. stating the plan I saw on the link. When our broker signs us up, she gives the exact monthly premium and answers my questions in detail. I have some questions about deductions and out of network coverage. She's so knowledgeable and I'm reassured I understand everything.


One part that stands out from the HSA approved plan and the other Bronze plan is emergency coverage. The non HSA plan has a $500 co pay for emergencies and 37% OOP. The HSA bronze plan is entirely deductible for emergencies. So our deductible of $6500 (individual) would be entirely OOP. BUT if there are no emergencies, we have the HSA backing for other medical issues. I want to discuss that with her.

 

[sengsational]

I'm filling out the application this year and they're asking a few questions I don't think they asked before.

This one is interesting.

If anyone on your application is enrolled in Marketplace coverage and is later found to have other qualifying health coverage (like Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)), the Marketplace will automatically end their Marketplace plan coverage. This will help make sure that anyone who’s found to have other qualifying coverage won’t stay enrolled in Marketplace coverage and have to pay full cost.

• I agree to allow the Marketplace to end the Marketplace coverage of the people on my application in this situation.

• I don’t give the Marketplace permission to end Marketplace coverage in this situation. I understand that the affected people on my application will no longer be eligible for financial help and must pay full cost for their Marketplace plan.

We are still shy of Medicare age, but that might be handy to automatically stop paying for ACA when Medicare kicks-in?

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I just did what needed to be done for my 2021 health insurance on Pennsylvania's new state-based exchange -- pennie.com. I was very pleased with how it went down.

PA had already created (and approved) an application for 2021 coverage in advance of me signing in based on data they pulled over from the federal healthcare.gov exchange. I didn't really have to do anything if it all looked good. They had mapped me to a new plan that my current insurance provider had told them best mapped to my current plan. They had also already calculated (and approved) my APTC subsidy based on my 2020 income estimate. As it turns out, I had already decided that I was going to stick with that same income estimate for 2021, so it made that part of the process very easy.

I did decide to drop my exchange-based dental insurance this year, so I simply had to click a button to have them cancel that out of my application. It told me that they will take care of notifying the dental insurance provider.

I did still choose to look through the available plans, but my previous research had pretty much already discovered all the details, so I didn't find anything to take action on. I'm going to stick with the plan that my provider had already mapped me too.

I'm going with a Gold-level plan with $1000 deductible/$10 PCP visits/$55 Specialist visits. It's an HMO (the only thing my preferred company offers in my county), but all my desired doctors and hospitals are in-network. Last year, the plan was a PPO, so that's a downgrade. The only downside I see is that I'm now required to get referrals for any specialist visits. I can deal with that since pretty much anyone I might need to see is in-network.

I did crunch the numbers on whether the same company's Bronze plan would be a smarter choice. It may end up that way, but it really all would depend on what medical issues I might have and what prescriptions I end up through the year. I created a Best Case/Most Likely comparison and decided to go with the Most Likely results -- which put me back to the Gold Plan. The $35/month Bronze Premium (with subsidy) is mighty tempting, but given my medical history, I'll stick with paying a lot more for Gold coverage.

 

[RunningBum]

I'm filling out the application this year and they're asking a few questions I don't think they asked before.

This one is interesting.



We are still shy of Medicare age, but that might be handy to automatically stop paying for ACA when Medicare kicks-in?

I hadn't remembered that one either. It did seem like more questions to get through, but that one was the only one that really stopped me to think about what it meant.

In any case, I got through it, and the website had no delays, so I'm set for ACA in 2021. The only difference from the preview I did last week is that my subsidy was a little more, I think. I could see it being less if a new silver plan was added, not sure why it was more, but I'm not complaining.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I hadn't remembered that one either. It did seem like more questions to get through, but that one was the only one that really stopped me to think about what it meant.

In any case, I got through it, and the website had no delays, so I'm set for ACA in 2021. The only difference from the preview I did last week is that my subsidy was a little more, I think. I could see it being less if a new silver plan was added, not sure why it was more, but I'm not complaining.

My subsidy also went up this year. More than my plan went up, so I’m happy. In my county, there are several silver plans that are more expensive than my gold plan this year. That is new. I believe PA asks the insurance companies to pad some of their costs into the silver plans so that people’s federal subsidies will be higher. A bit of states gaming the system a bit to get more federal dollars.