ACA CHANGES 2018
ACA Season is at hand lasting from November 1st- December 15th. Every year there is a change in the ACA as a whole and it’s important to know those changes. This year, 2018, the ACA marketplace has made it possible for each county in the United States to have an affordable individual health insurance available. I would like to go through some of the other changes that are found in the plans for the 2018 ACA.
Market Exits
A big change to some may be the exiting of some big named insurers from certain markets around the U.S. Aetna, is leaving multiple counties including Nebraska, Virginia, and Iowa. Anthem is moving out of counties in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and more. Blue Cross is leaving certain counties in Georgia and Missouri. Humana has quite a few exits as well.
Third Party Enrollments
Some good news for enrollees is that you will be able to enroll through third party websites beginning this year. As a result, you skip can bypass Healthcare.gov. If you’d rather sign up using healthcare.gov, then you can start your process here https://www.healthcare.gov/.
Premium Rises
Research done by Avalere, a consulting firm, shows premiums are rising but a ton for silver plans, the most popular among plans available. It seems that the average rise in premium price will be around 34%. Why the rise? According to Avalere’s Vice President, Caroline Pearson raising the premiums for the 2018 year will account for market uncertainty and the federal government’s failure to pay for cost-sharing reductions. Cost sharing reductions came from the decision of president Trump to halt the CSR payments stating “no appropriation for cost-sharing reduction payments to insurance companies.”
On the flip side, some gold policies are more affordable for some, with a premium rise of only 19%. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, the cheapest gold policy will have lower rates than the least expensive silver plan. As a result silver plans will be more expensive in about 459 counties.
Shortened Enrollment
One of the most noticeable changes in the ACA is the shorter enrollment period. In previous years, the ACA would run through January some years, while this year we have been shortened to only December 15th. This means we don’t have much time to enroll!
With the shortened ACA enrollment we need to make sure to finish any enrollments as fast as you can. If you have ACA specific questions don’t hesitate to call Jeff Hess our ACA Product Specialist.
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