☰ ˟
Contact Us Today / 478.453.9496
Bobby Brown Insurance Agency

“When you think about insurance, see us!”

  • Home
  • Get A Quote
  • Coverages
    • Auto Insurance
    • Business & Commercial Insurance
    • Flood Insurance
    • Homeowners Insurance
    • Motorcycle Insurance
    • Recreational Vehicle Insurance
    • Watercraft & Boat Insurance
  • Customer Service
  • Claims
    • Auto Accident Claim
    • Commercial Auto Accident Claim
    • Flood Property Loss Claim Form
    • Motorcycle Accident Claim
    • Property Loss Claim Form
    • Watercraft Accident Claim
  • Blog
  • Make A Payment
  • Resources
    • Secure Area
    • Refer a Friend
    • Important Links
    • Calculators
    • Free Reports
    • Insurance Glossary
  • About Us
    • About Bobby Brown Insurance Agency
    • Location Map
    • Employee Directory
    • Partners
    • Customer Testimonials
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Join our Newsletter

What type of coverage do you need?
Home > Blog > Should you skip Obamacare and keep your old plan?
TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2013

Should you skip Obamacare and keep your old plan?

When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, starts rolling out in October, it will overhaul how Americans get healthcare coverage. Yet many workers will feel little immediate impact.

That's because almost half the 160 million Americans who received health coverage through their jobs in 2012 were enrolled in what's known as a "grandfathered" insurance plan, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.

These plans won't have to conform to many of the new regulations mandated by health reform. They won't have to eliminate annual caps on coverage or pay for preventive services with no out-of-pocket costs. Grandfathered plans are also exempt from a requirement that insurers cover at least 60 percent of expected medical costs.

Many of the some 15 million non-elderly people who buy policies on their own - or 6 percent of the total - will also fall under this exemption. The Congressional Budget Office estimates about 12 million individuals will continue to buy insurance outside of government health exchanges set up under Obamacare.

But just because you can slip in under the grandfather exemption doesn't mean you should. You may find it advantageous to move into one of the new plans.

After all, the Obamacare plans are largely designed to protect consumers - limiting what workers have to pay out of pocket and what insurers can refuse to cover. All new individual policies will have to cover more services, including medication, maternity and mental healthcare.

Any policy in place on March 23, 2010, the day health reform was enacted, falls under the grandfather exemption. As the Obama administration put it, if you like your plan, your doctor or both, you can keep them.

The best way to know whether your coverage falls into this category - if you get your coverage at work - is to ask your human resources department. If you buy your coverage privately, your insurer should send you a letter, or you can call and ask.

Last year some 60 percent of employers, large and small, offered at least one grandfathered plan during open enrollment, according to the Kaiser survey. New employees can also join a grandfathered plan so long as the company has maintained consecutive enrollment in it.

For a privately sold plan to be grandfathered it had to have maintained steady co-pay, deductible and coverage rates until now, and members need to have been enrolled before the legislation passed in 2010. That's relatively rare, given government figures that 40 percent to 66 percent of people with individual market policies change plans within a year.

For old plans as well as new ones, premiums are likely to rise next year - though the old plans still could be considerably more affordable than the newer ones.

That could make it difficult to decide whether to jump to the new or stick with the old grandfathered plan for as long as you can.

Read More: Source

Posted 11:04 AM

Tags: health, insurance, healthcare
Share |


No Comments


Post a Comment
Required
Required (Not Displayed)
Required


All comments are moderated and stripped of HTML.

NOTICE: This blog and website are made available by the publisher for educational and informational purposes only. It is not be used as a substitute for competent insurance, legal, or tax advice from a licensed professional in your state. By using this blog site you understand that there is no broker client relationship between you and the blog and website publisher.
Blog Archive
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2013

  • insurance(42)
  • auto(16)
  • car(12)
  • home(9)
  • life(9)
  • tips(8)
  • bobby brown insurance agency(6)
  • house(6)
  • health(6)
  • money(5)
  • life insurance(5)
  • insurance tips(4)
  • homeowners(4)
  • rates(4)
  • claim(4)
  • safety(4)
  • halloween(3)
  • car insurance(3)
  • auto insurance(3)
  • homeowners insurance(3)
  • business(2)
  • holiday(2)
  • family(2)
  • claims(2)
  • homeowners tips(2)
  • healthcare(2)
  • finance(2)
  • trusted choice(2)
  • myths(2)
  • disability(2)
  • teen(2)
  • mistakes(2)
  • planning(2)
  • renters(2)
  • save(2)
  • vehicle(2)
  • value(2)
  • homeowner(2)
  • business insurance(2)
  • theft(2)
  • winter insurance tips(2)
  • rental(2)
  • marriage(1)
  • labor day(1)
  • young(1)
  • safety insurance(1)
  • family insurance(1)
  • permanent(1)
  • hospital(1)
  • rental insurance(1)

View Mobile Version

Our Customer Feedback

Read More

Our latest blogs

  • State Auto
  • Grange
  • Southern Mutual
  • The Hartford
  • Utica National
  • Southern Trust
  • GBE
Bobby Brown Insurance Agency
1531 North Columbia Street
Milledgeville, GA 31061
Our mission is to work with clients to tailor insurance specific to their needs and back it up with quality personal service.
We're here for you
Home Page/ About Us/ Contact Us/ Our Blog/ Reviews/ Join Our Newsletter/ Refer A Friend
Quick Help Links
Quote Forms/ Service Forms/ File a Claim/ Make a Payment/ Insurance Glossary/ FAQs
About Us Team
Contact Blog Search
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram
© Copyright 2019. All rights reserved. Powered by Insurance Website Builder