What Is a Health Care Subsidy?

When the Affordable Care Act was enacted, it was determined that everyone was required to maintain health insurance. Yet, the federal government also understood that not everyone was in a position to afford health care premiums. As a result, the government designed the system of the health care subsidy. This system was designed to help people under a certain income level afford the premiums of their healthcare coverage purchased through the Federal Marketplace.  Premium Tax Credit Depending on the circumstances, a person may be eligible for a refundable tax credit called...

How Long Does Cobra Insurance Last?

COBRA health insurance was created with the Comprehensive Budget and Reconciliation Act in 1985 and became effective in 1986. It provides the option to continue health insurance after you have left a job, provided that the separation was due to a “qualifying event.” What’s a Qualifying Event? Death, being fired or having your hours reduced,  divorce or separation (assuming you were covered under your spouse’s plan at the time of divorce), starting Medicare, or aging out of your parent’s health insurance plan, returning from military leave during which you did not maintain...

How Does the Government Subsidy for Heal...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, came into force in 2010 to provide affordable health insurance for Americans. As part of this Act, Medicaid and some government subsidies were created to help people pay their health insurance premiums. How do these subsidies work? If you qualify, these subsidies will work to limit the amount of premiums you pay to a percentage of your annual income.  The actual amount you get varies based on the cost of the benchmark healthcare plans in your area. If your benchmark plan costs more than a certain percentage of your...

What Type of Health Plan is Kaiser?

There are two kinds of health insurance plans, health maintenance organizations (HMO) and preferred provider organization (PPO). With an HMO plan, your primary care provider (PCP) coordinates your medical services. Often, your PCP will need to make a referral for you to see a specialist or for you to have any kinds of medical testing. If you choose to see a provider outside the HMO network, you will be responsible for the entire cost of the medical care. Usually, an HMO doesn’t have a deductible and premiums are lower. Kaiser offers a variety of HMO plans that are...

Do Small Businesses Have to Offer Health...

As the costs of health insurance continue to rise, it not only affects individuals, but the businesses that make their employee health care a priority. Small companies don’t have the cash flow that larger corporations do, often find themselves in a difficult situation when it comes to health insurance. With the cost of covering one employee under group health rising nearly 200 percent over the last fifteen years, many small businesses are left wondering if they have to provide health insurance to their employees. Providing Benefits to Employees While small...

How Will Trump’s Repeal of the Affordabl...

The only part of the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA, “Obamacare”) that was actually enacted was the repeal of the individual mandate. The individual mandate required all individuals to either have health insurance or pay a fine. Both the individual mandate and the fine were repealed effective January 1, 2019. The fine was very small, so it did not really ever serve as an inducement to get health insurance. How Will the Repeal Affect 2019 ACA Enrollments? Open season for 2019 Obamacare enrollments starts on November 1, 2019. Controversies aside,...