ACA plan poll - What color do you have and why?

[Plantman]

I was always a silver man until this year when the cost could not be justified. Bronze now.

 

[GTFan]

Staying under 200% FPL to get Silver CSR plans for us. Skipped COBRA at end of 2014 when I retired cuz the ACA Bronze plans at the time were way cheaper. 2015 was the only year we had a Bronze plan and that was only because of vacation and severance payouts.

 

[candrew]

Bronze plan with HSA. $149/mo. for DW & I. Approximately $1500/mo. in APTC.

 

[robnplunder]

As I plan for a future with ACA, I'm curious as to which color plan most folks choose and why. I'm thinking mine will be a bronze plan with $0 premium *IF* I can manage our income to $65k (otherwise prems are > $1400). A silver plan in our state would be around $300/month with subsidies.

Thanks for starting the thread. After reading the replies, I think I will switch to bronze from silver next year. When I started ACA 3 years ago, my income was small enough for the subsidy to cover the cost of silver plan. My MAGI have spiked up since then but I kept silver plan nonetheless. This thread convinced me to switch back. DW and I are healthy and only use the checkups (twice a year) and didn't need any major service for the last 3 years.

 

[MichaelB]

Thanks for starting the thread. After reading the replies, I think I will switch to bronze from silver next year. When I started ACA 3 years ago, my income was small enough for the subsidy to cover the cost of silver plan. My MAGI have spiked up since then but I kept silver plan nonetheless. This thread convinced me to switch back. DW and I are healthy and only use the checkups (twice a year) and didn't need any major service for the last 3 years.

Good choice. When use is low and little or no premium assistance, bronze is substantially less expensive.

 

[M Paquette]

Bronze HSA Eligible.

The max out of pocket (MOOP) plus Bronze premiums came to slightly less than the (smaller)MOOP + (larger)Premiums for more expensive plans. The more expensive plans tend to be bought by heavier service users, so the total cost is weighted higher.

If one uses minimal services, or oddly enough, so much that they will exceed MOOP every year, the lowest cost plan available to me is the Bronze one.

Since I am using the Kaiser HMO, the level of service I get and which doctors will see me is independent of which ACA plan I choose. The receptionist tells me my up-front cost, until I hit MOOP or a copay break about 3/4 the way there, I pay, and I get care. Once i hit MOOP, I don’t get charged for prescriptions, doctor visits, hospitals, and such, just durable goods if any.

 

[blueskyk]

Bronze with HSA, low service users, $10/mo with subsidy, both DH and I are 64. Could not have retired early without ACA and ability to manage income to qualify for subsidy.

At one point, I had elective surgery and scheduled it at the beginning of a new year and got the Gold plan with low deductible for that year because we were moving to another state two months later. I switched back to Bronze plan in new location. So, that sort of worked out...

 

[NoMoreJob]

Not sure the color, just chose the only HSA qualified plan available in our area for my wife. The HSA contribution helps us reduce our income for MAGI/subsidy purposes.

 

[Splash]

Silver.

No Bronze or HSA policies available in my area.

 

[maestro]

First year on ACA and I’m on Bronze. Kept (keeping) MAGI low enough to get good subsidies, so only costs $15/month.

 

[njhowie]

I'm extremely healthy, so I've always been in the cheapest bronze HSA plan. I haven't been in a doctor's office in about 15 years and that one time was for a routine physical...which I was not impressed with so never returned again.

Now, for wife, she requires a better plan. We had her on silver for a couple years, but the premiums rose so quickly, we changed her to bronze and found that any additional we paid out of pocket was far less than the additional premium to have the silver plan. She needs the drug coverage. We found that using wellrx and goodrx the prices were significantly less expensive than what the insurance was charging! That is awful - you pay your insurance premiums, have drug coverage, and then they charge you (significantly) more than these other outfits where anyone can just go online and print out a card. The one generic drug she takes was $75 for 90 days through the insurance. Now we use wellrx, it is $13. What a ripoff these pharmacy benefit managers are running for the insurance companies!

For the other drug she needs that is sky-high priced, we use a trustworthy Canadian pharmacy, and it's worked out wonderfully. Through the insurance the drug is about $1200, though the Canadian pharmacy only $250.

 

[jim584672]

This is my fifth year on a Medicaid Managed Care plan. Same doctors as the Megacorp plan, but no costs for me.

 

[triangle]

Good choice. When use is low and little or no premium assistance, bronze is substantially less expensive.

While there is a significant difference in the Bronze vs Gold yearly premiums, if one meets their deductible the overall maximum costs between colors become much closer. I have wondered if that price structure was meant as an incentive for the poorest to buy a higher grade plan (with larger subsidy) so that they will have a lower deductible which they would then be better able to meet? Since a person with a chronic condition needing expensive care would do a simple premium + deductible|max-out-of-pocket cost calculation to decide which was best.

The poll is missing an option for none. Maybe it is the transparent color.