Ok so now there’s 3 choices, no insurance, bare bones insurance or purchase insurance via a government exchange on the menu. The hardship exemption also gives those consumers the option of buying insurance whenever they want to and are not limited to the open enrollment dates. This is getting interesting indeed. So far less than half a million who have been cancelled as an estimation have not purchased new coverage and some who have purchased insurance via the exchanges could back out and buy a bare bones policy.
Now that the penalty is gone for not having insurance with buying bare bones, this is going to even get more interesting. These folks will get a break but what if a consumer is uninsured and can’t
afford what is offered through the exchange if they fall into one of those odd categories to where subsidies don’t make up the difference to make it affordable, how about that group? It may not be a huge number but there will be folks in that area too. Just last week deadlines were extended for policy payments.
Government Extends Both Enrollment and Payment Deadlines For Health Insurance Policies Purchased Via Government Exchanges
Each state will be making their own decisions with their government insurance agencies. I didn’t realize until I read this article that there was an exemption for those under the age of 30 to buy catastrophic coverage already. As I said earlier, it’s getting pretty confusing out there but you can call the hotline on the Healthcare.Gov website and get answers, I think <grin>. What a crazy model this has turned out to be and I’m not even including the website with that comment.
Getting Health Insurance In the US Has Become Way Too Complex And Difficult For Many In One Form Or Another With Spastic Algorithms and Math Models That Too Often Fail-Attack of the “Health Insurance” Killer Algorithms With Flawed Models
In summary though, I really wonder how long the “fine” will continue, at least for now for not having insurance and again some are ready to pay the fine as it’s cheaper…perhaps single payer will get here yet as the clashing models and algorithms continue to raise havoc with all. I understand what the ACA is trying to do and it’s a good thing to get more insured by all means but with this example you have the money situations of income created by bands and other greedy industries, this the sad end result with people being able to pay and afford it, along with smaller and smaller networks of doctors and hospitals for those who qualify for Medicaid. BD
The Obama administration on Thursday night significantly relaxed the rules of the federal health-care law for millions of consumers whose individual insurance policies have been canceled, saying they can buy bare-bones plans or entirely avoid a requirement that most Americans have health coverage.
The surprise announcement, days before the Dec. 23 deadline for people to choose plans that will begin Jan. 1, triggered an immediate backlash from the health insurance industry and raised fairness questions about a law intended to promote affordable and comprehensive coverage on a widespread basis.
This second change, prompted by a group of Democratic senators — most of whom face tough reelection campaigns next year — goes substantially further in accommodating people upset about losing their policies. The latest rule will allow consumers with a canceled health plan to claim a “hardship exemption” if they think the plans sold through new federal and state marketplaces are too expensive.
The ability to get an exemption means that the administration is freeing these people from one of the central features of the law: a requirement that most Americans have health insurance as of Jan. 1 or risk a fine. The exemption gives them the choice of having no insurance or of buying skimpy “catastrophic” coverage.
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