Affordable Health Care Sign Up Info

from Robert Roe, Health Officer Maplewood:  The Affordable Health Care sign up period is now until December 15th.   Please contact me if you want more info.  I can provide you with useful flyers made up by NJ Citizen Action.   Call 973-762-8120 x4400 or healthofficer@twp.maplewood.nj.us for email.   I do not know of any Navigator programs in our area such as we had last year, but we can help get you pointed in the right direction. 

  My opinion from a public health point of view is that having health insurance is perhaps the most important factor in assuring that our community stays healthy.   

There are now five health insurance companies that participate in New Jersey Affordable Care Act.   Now is a good time to compare the programs and prices.  

Correction to my last post:   There are three health insurance companies that offer ACA insurance in New Jersey.  Americhealth, Horizon BC/BS and Horizon HealthCare of NJ and Oscar Insurance Corp.

  You may have noticed that there are no TV or radio or newsp-aper advertisements for the ACA sign up.  This has been a deliberate step by the current Washington Administration to discourage ACA sign ups.  But the ACA is still the law of the land and local social service agencies and local health departments are trying to get out the info.  

If you plan to sign up for ACA insurance, a good first step is to consult your physician to see which of the above ACA insurances they accept.   A good next step is to go to Covernj.org which is a web site provided by NJ Citizen Action.  This site has information on the sign up procedures and income levels.  After reviewing this information, you can then go to Healthcare.gov. or call 800-318-2596 which is a 24/7 phone assistance service. ( TTY:855-889-4325 )   

Important messages are: 1.  There are affordable plans, 2.  Most people qualify for a tax credit, 3.  You may end up paying more if you do not have health insurance.   

When getting ready to apply have your: 1. social security numbers or legal document numbers, 2. Birth dates, 3. Employer and income information such as W-2 forms, 4.  Police numbers for any health insurance plans for your household.

Should #4 read "policy" numbers rather than "police" numbers?

Thank you Joan for careful proof reading.   Yes, it should say policy numbers.   

bump

RobertRoe said:


If you plan to sign up for ACA insurance, a good first step is to consult your physician to see which of the above ACA insurances they accept.   A good next step is to go to Covernj.org which is a web site provided by NJ Citizen Action.  This site has information on the sign up procedures and income levels.  After reviewing this information, you can then go to Healthcare.gov. or call 800-318-2596 which is a 24/7 phone assistance service. ( TTY:855-889-4325 )   

You don't have to go through the trouble of contacting all your physicians. When you go through the enrollment process, there's a step where you can type in the names of all your physicians and all your medications. When you get to the screen that lists all the insurance plans available to you, it will tell you for each plan which of your physicians and medications are or are not covered. (Truth be told, so many physicians' offices don't even know what they'll be taking next year because the insurance companies TELL THEM whether they are on or off the panel.)

Also ... don't mean to split hairs but ALL health insurance (with rare exceptions) is "ACA insurance" — even employer-provided insurance and individual insurance purchased outside the exchanges must abide by the ACA law. The current enrollment period pertains to health insurance purchased on the exchange. In the case of New Jersey, it's the federal exchange at https://www.healthcare.gov/

Please also remember if you have

 a High Deductible plan and want to use an HSA to cover medical costs it need to be set up BEFORE Dec 1 to get 2017 tax benefits 

Thanks to everyone for adding more information.   

new207040 said:

Please also remember if you have

 a High Deductible plan and want to use an HSA to cover medical costs it need to be set up BEFORE Dec 1 to get 2017 tax benefits 

No. The December 1 deadline is something different. If you are eligible to open an HSA by December 1, you are considered to have been eligible for the entire tax year. So, if you did not have an eligible health insurance plan January 1 through November 30, but then got one on December 1, you are eligible to contribute the full year's amount—with one caveat: You'd have to remain eligible going forward for the full year ahead and until the last day of the month in which you became eligible.

The deadline for OPENING and funding an HSA  for tax year 2017 (if you are eligible to do so) is April 15, 2018. Make sure you designate that the contributions are for 2017.

https://newdirectionira.com/ira-info/contributions/hsa

from bob Roe:   There is much I do not know about the ACA.   So, thank you to all who have added info.   If you are not familiar with the ACA process, i recommend going to www.covernj.org to get more info.  Our Health Dept. purpose is to try and alert and encourage anyone in need of ACA health insurance to find out the basic info and to sign up as needed.   You can call 1-800-318-2596 to speak to a trained professional.   

Soliciting opinions about plans for those of us in the middle - make to much for subsidy, tends to have mid- level health care costs in a given year (no serious chronic illnesses, but a decent number of doctor visits, tests, and occasional scans).   I find the plan review process to be depressingly ungraspable  for those of us in the middle.  Recommendations welcome (open to HSA eligible plans).