Day 6: Today's Important Thing to know about Health Care Reform

Today’s thing to know is how to purchase creditable health insurance.  For people fortunate enough to have health insurance provided through an employer, not much will change except perhaps the premiums.  Most employer plans will be grandfathered for at least some period of time.  Grandfathered plans will not be required to provide the standardized benefits that we discussed yesterday.  If you provide your own health insurance or currently have no health insurance, you can purchase the new health insurance through the federally facilitated marketplace or through a public marketplace.  Tennessee opted out of having its own marketplace.  Through the federally facilitated marketplace you can purchase health insurance and, if you qualify, you can receive tax subsidies from the government to pay a portion of your premiums.  You can access these marketplaces online or via your local, FFM-certified insurance broker, like me.  Tomorrow we will discuss the tax subsidies and how you qualify.