Obamacare Renewal Time?
Got a thing in the mail yesterday from Anthem Blue Cross. It was from ABC but only for those with ABC Obamacare plans. It says it's "time to renew your individual health benefit plan". Renew it? I'd read something about enrollment periods starting up again in the news but I thought it was for people that weren't on Obamacare yet. Do I have to renew if I just keep paying the premiums as I always have?
It goes on to say they've made some changes to some of the individual plans. They attached a table to show the changes.
Then they say if I want to renew to simply pay the $116.26 premium as it appears on my bill. What? I've only been paying $77.01. I'd heard Obamacare premiums might be going up depending on where you live. Am I one of those?
Hard to say. Checking the Anthem Blue Cross web site, it still shows my premium at $77.01, but the mail said the enrollment period runs from November 2014 to February 2015. Maybe the new premiums aren't in effect yet? Will my premiums go up, or down?
This article from Reason magazine sorta explains the situation and tells us we won't know for sure until sometime after the middle of November. The Affordable Care Act folks held off on giving more info until after the election.
I guess I'll have to wait to find out the good or bad news. I'll expect the worst. But what changes have been made to my current plan?
I only see two changes: They got rid of the $1000.00 co-payment requirement for out of network hospital visits. That seems like a good thing. They also added a pediatric dental plan which wasn't provided before. That makes no sense at all for me as I don't have kids. Oh well. Overall the changes seem like a glass half empty, half full type of thing.
I guess I'll wait until after the election and see what bad news awaits me. Funny thing is, it almost doesn't matter since my health care provider, Redwood Family Practice, doesn't accept Obamacare.
2 Comments:
Rather than go to Covered California's web site or using their toll-free number, the best information you can get is through any insurance agency that handles Blue Cross or Blue Shield. Much simpler and you can talk with someone in person.
I tried calling Anthem/ Blue Cross a few times at the beginning of the year when I first signed up. I never got through. Maybe it's not so bad now that they've sorted through the sign up mess.
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