All these changes and talk of pre-existing not being covered in all cases (ie: state opt-out) is seriously going to make me think twice about RE this year.
I was never a fan of the ACA for various reasons but at least we could RE and be covered.
Now..who knows? The House version seems to say States can opt out. Senate will come up with their own bill that may or may not contradict that.
SO frustrating when it comes to thinking about RE this year - which I seriously would do "now" due to unmanageable stress and health issues if it weren't for all the uncertainty about what will / won't be covered, IF I will be able to get HC for me and DW and how much it will cost (probably lots, since the insurance companies can now charge us "old" people up to 5X the "young" people compared to 3X under the ACA..and premiums were already $18K/yr for 2 of us with a PPO..what's it supposed to go to? $25-30K? UGHHHH!!!)
I'm not going to sleep well until this all gets ironed out and finalized..hopefully with some coverage for pre-existing and not gouging us "old" people, or we'll be in a world of hurt..
Someone please re-assure me and convince me that they won't do away with coverage for pre-existing..that will screw up my entire plan to RE this year.
I feel your pain. We were hoping to RE in 2018 (without counting on subsidies), but until I can get a clearer picture of what future options are, I cannot make firm plans.
Question for all: under the current AHCA bill, I read that if you do not drop coverage they cannot ask you about preexisting conditions. First, is this true? What if the plan you are on shuts down, or you want to switch plans? Can they then ask about preexisting conditions?
My thinking is if I never lose coverage perhaps I will not have to go into a high risk pool. However I can't control if my plan is shut down, so trying to get clarity on this rule about when they can and can't ask about pre-existing conditions.
Also, are there provisions in the AHCA that allow insurers to switch you to a high risk pool if you start having excessive claims or claims for one of the 8 diagnoses they listed? I thought I saw something in that white paper about that before my eyes glazed over (whew!).
RetireSoon, hoping answers to these questions provide some strategies we can possibly utilize.
And, as a back up, I will be keeping my part-time job to keep my skills current, should I ever have to return to full-time work for benefits only. Will also look for something similar for hubby - or possibly he may open his own part-time consulting business, which would keep his skills current in case of need to return to FT work.