Covered California automatically switched DW from Bronze to Silver

fh2000

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Aug 14, 2010
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DW has been on Bronze 60 HDHP PPO for 5 years. Each year on 10/15, Covered California auto enrolled her to the same plan for next year:
$0 monthly premium.
Deductible: $7,050
OOP: $14,100
Household income: $30k for one participant. I am on Medicare but I am the subscriber of that plan. Each year, I have to upload income affidavit.

This year, Covered California auto enrolled her again on 10/15, though changed her plan to Silver 94 PPO.
$0 monthly premium
$0 deductible
OOP: $1,150
Any other coverage remains the same. (No more HSA contribution.) I don't have to upload any income affidavit.

They both sent us a letter regarding this change. I called Covered California, Blue Shield of California and both confirmed her new plan. I am not sure what would trigger such change. It is a much better plan. We will keep it.
 
This may be a better plan for you specifically, but there are lots of families (mine for instance) who wouldn't benefit from this change and would be hurt by not being able to contribute to an HSA. Is staying on the Bronze HDHP plan an option if you want to, or is it gone completely?

I got the renewal email from CoveredCA a few days ago, but I haven't logged in yet. I guess I should do that sooner rather than later. A few years ago I gave them permission to get our prior tax returns, so I haven't had to upload any income docs since our first year. They have called me a couple of times when the estimates I gave them didn't match the prior year's taxes, but they've accepted it when I told them that our income would be different in the later year.
 
This may be a better plan for you specifically, but there are lots of families (mine for instance) who wouldn't benefit from this change and would be hurt by not being able to contribute to an HSA. Is staying on the Bronze HDHP plan an option if you want to, or is it gone completely?
We have saved enough HSA over the years so I think we are fine with no more contributions. DW will be on Medicare in 2 more years, and no more HSA contributions by then anyway.

The auto enrollment is complete, though we have still up till January to change our mind? But I think we will stay with the new plan since there is no more deductible.
 
The Blue Shield Bronze 60 HDHP plan is still available. My son is on that plan and I do his health insurance research. I've looked at his options for 2025 and it still seems to be the best deal for him.

ETA: He did not get auto enrolled into a different plan. I suspect that it is OP income that is kicking them into the Silver 94 plan.
 
I'm currently on Blue Shield Bronze 60 HDHP plan and it is still available for 2025. However I paid $435/mo premium for this plan, with MAGI ~$23K this year. I found there is a similar plan from Athem Blue Cross EPO which would cost me $119/mo with a coverage for all doctors and hospitals I use. This year, this plan also has been available but it did not cover any doctor I use except primary physician. I definitely will go for EPO plan even if it seems more restrictive in coverage.
 
same network coverage? (doctors, hospitals)
According to the letter we received from Blue Shield of California: they thanked us for continued membership and have processed our request to transfer to the new plan. Any other coverage remains the same.

I called them and they said the member ID and group ID all stay the same. To actually view if all doctors and hospitals are still in network, I will have to wait till 1/1/25.

Covered California open enrollment ends on 1/31/25. If there is any issue, we can always roll back to the old plan.
 

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