Buy insurance from Healthcare.gov or an insurance broker?

[Prague]

Hi All - Finally ERed last year and we are still on COBRA from the last employer till late November this year. But we have started to check what health insurance options we have after COBRA runs out. There are only two PPOs from BCBS that are HSA eligible in our area (our plan is to buy an HSA eligible plan so that we can continue to contribute to HSA). Both are offered on healthcare.gov private insurance list as well as a local insurance broker. The premium quoted seem to be within a few dollars apart. So we have two questions:

1. Is there a difference where we get the insurance? i.e. from healthcare.gov or from a local broker? We will NOT be able to qualify for any subsidy as we are planning to do a large Roth conversion from our Traditional IRA account.

2. Since our 2020 insurance via COBRA will not run out till late Nov 2020, should we go straight to get 2021 insurance instead? The broker mentioned that usually they start the enrollment for 2021 in November already and if we apply for both, there maybe some complications. I understand that will create a one-month gap in our coverage and penalty has gone away, but are there any pros/cons that I have not thought about? We are most likely to be out of the country during November and December later this year.

This will be our very first time dealing with non-employer sponsored health insurance plan, so your input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

We dealt with a broker who signed us up on healthcare.gov. He was especially helpful during the rollout year when the system was rocky. We still got an ACA-compliant plan, along with an insider's take on which providers were most user-friendly. It didn't cost us anything, and the broker was quite helpful. In fact, he continues to advise us on Medigap and Part D coverage.

 

[njhowie]

If you are not getting a subsidy, then there is no difference where you purchase the insurance from. If it is the same plan, same insurer, then no difference other than the slight price differential you've noticed which is likely the broker's commission.

That being the case, you should get it through the easiest means possible. I really hated using healthcare.gov ... when it was working. Every year which we had an ACA plan not through an employer, we used ehealthinsurance.com. The prices were the same, but the user interface, and everything about it was simple and straightforward. In the few instances when I had questions, online chat got me immediate answers, the one time I called, I reached a person directly without sitting on hold.

 

[jollystomper]

Is there a difference where we get the insurance? i.e. from healthcare.gov or from a local broker? We will NOT be able to qualify for any subsidy as we are planning to do a large Roth conversion from our Traditional IRA account

Check with your medical providers to see what insurance sources they accept. Many of our providers would *not* accept insurance plans from healthcare.gov. They would only accept employer or private plans.

 

[MRG]

First couple years I got it myself from the federal exchange. When we moved I used a broker he helped navigate the state exchange. In either case it was good. Like someone upstream said if you don't get a subsidy it doesn't matter and if you do it doesn't matter.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

My comments on whether to buy on healthcare.gov or off the exchange is the same as the others have said. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t getting a subsidy. Things would most likely be confusing to buy for both the one month of 2020 and 2021 at nearly the same time. Technically, I think you can start shopping for that last month 60 days prior to your Cobra running out. 2021 shopping starts on November 1. So the two shopping seasons don’t really have to overlap. But you’d really want to take it slow and deliberately thru the process. I personally found the healthcare.gov support call center to be very helpful when I called with questions. But I’m sure it all depends on who answers the phone.

As for your second question, I certainly would not go with any gap in coverage. Medical costs are just too much risk.

I’d probably just buy outside the exchange and start the coverage when Cobra runs out. I’m sure BCBS would then have a renewal process for 2021. Of course you won’t know the 2021 pricing until about November 1st. It’s also possible that they won’t offer your same plan in 2021 or it may have changes in coverage.

Welcome to the world of Buying your own insurance! It’s never a dull moment.

 

[Prague]

My comments on whether to buy on healthcare.gov or off the exchange is the same as the others have said. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t getting a subsidy. Things would most likely be confusing to buy for both the one month of 2020 and 2021 at nearly the same time. Technically, I think you can start shopping for that last month 60 days prior to your Cobra running out. 2021 shopping starts on November 1. So the two shopping seasons don’t really have to overlap. But you’d really want to take it slow and deliberately thru the process. I personally found the healthcare.gov support call center to be very helpful when I called with questions. But I’m sure it all depends on who answers the phone.

As for your second question, I certainly would not go with any gap in coverage. Medical costs are just too much risk.

I’d probably just buy outside the exchange and start the coverage when Cobra runs out. I’m sure BCBS would then have a renewal process for 2021. Of course you won’t know the 2021 pricing until about November 1st. It’s also possible that they won’t offer your same plan in 2021 or it may have changes in coverage.

Welcome to the world of Buying your own insurance! It’s never a dull moment.

Yes, having had employer sponsored health plans for our whole lives, it has been quite a journey for us to shop for private insurance! And we have found we will be paying $500 more per month for plans that doubles our deductible!

 

[Animorph]

We bought directly from insurers for a couple of years in the past. With no subsidies you can buy any ACA-compliant plan. Several insurers had plans that they did not put on Healthcare.gov. Hopefully a broker would be able to offer that as well. We were looking specifically for HSA eligible plans, but that also qualified as not being a marketplace plan for those providers that wouldn't accept them. I'm not sure what the big difference was. The last few years we ended up selecting directly from Healthcare.gov. Not any big difference since they're all ACA-compliant.

 

[CoolChange]

Broker was Helpful

We dealt with a broker who signed us up on healthcare.gov. He was especially helpful during the rollout year when the system was rocky. We still got an ACA-compliant plan, along with an insider's take on which providers were most user-friendly. It didn't cost us anything, and the broker was quite helpful. In fact, he continues to advise us on Medigap and Part D coverage.

I had a similar experience a couple of years ago when the healthcare.gov decided to give me fits.


It was nice to have a second set of eyes on my work. (The broker suggested the same policy that I had already found saying it was the best she could find for my situation.) And, she was able to quickly work around the web site issue I was having to sign me up.



Worth every penny! (No cost, other than time, for me to use the broker.)