Help!!! I forgot to pay my health insurance bill!

We are in the brave, new world of federally-controlled heath insurance.  The Affordable Care Act allowed the federal government to set annual open enrollment periods.  During those weeks (usually in the fall of the year), you may enroll in a new health plan or change your current plan.  Outside of those few weeks a year, an individual cannot enroll in health insurance unless they have a qualifying event such as getting married, turning 26 or losing their coverage.  These open enrollment periods apply to ALL health insurance not just insurance purchased on the federal marketplace that people erroneously refer to as "Obamacare."  The only exception are plans provided through employers or government programs such as the VA or Medicare (which has its own enrollment periods).

Now, here is the problem.  If you forget to pay your health insurance bill and that plan is terminated by the insurance company, YOU CANNOT ENROLL IN ANOTHER PLAN until the annual open enrollment.  And, since you did not have coverage for a period of time as required by the federal government, you will be assessed a penalty on your tax return.

For security reasons, I don't usually recommend for a person give out their banking information.  However, paying for your HEALTH INSURANCE (and perhaps your car insurance) is a big exception!  You need for that bill to be paid first!  What if you were in an accident or some disaster happened and you were physically unable to pay your bill?  Just when you might need your health insurance the most, it could be terminated for lack of payment and you can't get it back.

So, lesson learned.  Everyone has money problems once in awhile but, with the new ACA law, paying your health insurance premiums is as serious as, well, a heart attack.

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Day 12: Today's Important Thing to know about Health Care Reform

Today’s important thing to know is that health care reform primarily affects health insurance for people over the age of 65.  Yes, in 2014 every American must have creditable coverage or pay a fine or tax but people over the age of 65 are generally covered by traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan.  Those plans are deemed to be creditable coverage by the Federal government so there is no reason for concern if you are covered by Medicare.  If you are a senior or know a senior, please know that all the confusion surrounding health care reform should not be a concern.  Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans are alive and well as we head toward their open enrollment period in October as well.

Day 8: Today's Important Thing to know about Health Care Reform

 

Today’s important thing to know is when will the marketplace open?  Gee, I would like an answer to that one myself.  Open enrollment is supposed to begin October 1 – just six weeks from now.  Unfortunately, there are still many questions about the government’s systems and whether they will be secure and able to handle the amount of traffic they will surely have once they are open.  The insurance companies are so nervous about the actual start date that they have postponed advertising the exchanges at this point.  So, all I can tell you is what the law says and what HHS (Health & Human Services) and CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) are saying.  Federally facilitated exchanges or marketplaces are supposed to open on October 1^st of 2013.  Anyone enrolling October 1 through December 31 will have a policy with an effective date of January 1, 2014.  The exchanges are scheduled to remain open until March 31^st of 2014.  Any policy purchased in January will be effective February 1 and so on.  If you do not enroll during the initial six month enrollment period, you will be locked out until open enrollment next year which will be six weeks starting on October 15^th and running until December 7^th which mirrors Medicare open enrollment.  To stay up to date, check my Facebook page at Holt Health Insurance.  Tomorrow we will talk about how you cannot be turned down for insurance.