{"id":652457,"date":"2018-12-06T17:33:13","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T00:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=652457"},"modified":"2018-12-07T08:12:42","modified_gmt":"2018-12-07T15:12:42","slug":"without-obamacare-penalty-think-itll-be-nice-to-drop-your-plan-better-think-twice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/12\/without-obamacare-penalty-think-itll-be-nice-to-drop-your-plan-better-think-twice\/","title":{"rendered":"Without Obamacare penalty, think it\u2019ll be nice to drop your plan? Better think twice."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-652459\" src=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/health-insurance-shoices-771x513.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"771\" height=\"513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/health-insurance-shoices-771x513.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/health-insurance-shoices-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/health-insurance-shoices-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/health-insurance-shoices.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/>Dana Farrell\u2019s car insurance is due. So is her homeowner\u2019s insurance \u2014 plus her property taxes.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also time to re-up her health coverage. But that\u2019s where Farrell, a 54-year-old former social worker, is drawing the line.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been retired two years and my savings is gone. I\u2019m at my wit\u2019s end,\u201d says the Murrieta, Calif., resident.<\/p>\n<p>So Farrell plans \u2014 reluctantly \u2014 to drop her health coverage next year because the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/californiahealthline.org\/news\/ding-dong-the-obamacare-tax-penalty-isnt-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Affordable Care Act tax penalty<\/a>\u00a0for not having insurance is going away.<\/p>\n<p>That\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthcare.gov\/fees\/fee-for-not-being-covered\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">penalty<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 which can reach thousands of dollars annually \u2014 was a key reason that Farrell, who considers herself healthy, kept her coverage.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This articles comes from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/khn.org\/news\/without-obamacare-penalty-think-itll-be-nice-to-drop-your-plan-better-think-twice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kaiser Health News<\/a>,\u00a0is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation and not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Now, \u201cwhy do it?\u201d she wonders. \u201cI don\u2019t have any major health issues and I\u2019ve got a lot of bills that just popped up. I can\u2019t afford to pay it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Farrell is among millions of people likely to dump their health insurance because of a provision in last year\u2019s Republican tax bill that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthaffairs.org\/do\/10.1377\/hblog20171220.323429\/full\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repeals the Obamacare tax penalty<\/a>, starting in 2019, by zeroing out the fines.<\/p>\n<p>The Congressional Budget Office\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/system\/files?file=115th-congress-2017-2018\/reports\/53300-individualmandate.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">estimated<\/a>\u00a0that the repeal of the penalty would move 4 million people to drop their health insurance next year \u2014 or not buy it in the first place \u2014 and 13 million in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Some people who hated Obamacare from the start will drop their coverage as a political statement. For people like Farrell, it\u2019s simply an issue of affordability.<\/p>\n<p>Since Farrell started buying her own insurance through the open market in 2016, her monthly premium has swelled by about $200, she says, and she bears the entire cost of her premium because she doesn\u2019t qualify for federal ACA tax credits. Next year, she says, her premium would have jumped to about $600 a month.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, she plans to pay cash for her doctor visits at about $80 a pop, and for any medications she might use \u2014 all the while praying that she doesn\u2019t get into a car accident or have a medical emergency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a situation that a lot of people find themselves in,\u201d says Miranda Dietz, lead author of a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/laborcenter.berkeley.edu\/ca-coverage-gains-to-erode-without-further-state-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new study<\/a>\u00a0that projects how ending the penalty will affect California.<\/p>\n<p>People like Farrell whose incomes are too high to qualify for tax credits are especially vulnerable, says Dietz, a research and policy associate at the University of California-Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education. They must pay the entire premium themselves.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Premiums, even for a bronze plan with a deductible of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coveredca.com\/PDFs\/2019-Health-Benefits-table.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more than $6,000<\/a>, are enormous in some cases, she says. \u201cThe state\u2019s done a great job of implementing the ACA,\u201d she says, \u201cbut there are still Californians who just find insurance out of reach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Up to 450,000 more Californians may be uninsured in 2020 as a result of the penalty ending, and up to 790,000 more by 2023, boosting the state\u2019s uninsurance rate for residents under 65 to 12.9 percent, according to the study. The individual market would suffer the biggest losses.<\/p>\n<p>Covered California, the state health insurance exchange, predicts that enrollment in the individual market \u2014 both on and off the exchange \u2014 could drop by 12 percent next year, says agency spokesman James Scullary.<\/p>\n<p>Exchange officials also blame the end of the penalty for a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coveredca.com\/newsroom\/news-releases\/2018\/07\/19\/Covered-California-Releases-2019-Individual-Market-Rates-Average-Rate-Change-Will-Be-8-7-Percent-With-Federal-Policies-Raising-Costs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">3.5 percent<\/a>\u00a0average increase in premiums, because the departure of some healthy people from the market will lead to a sicker and costlier insurance pool.<\/p>\n<p>Health insurance can be difficult to afford, but going without it is a \u201cbad gamble,\u201d Scullary says. Keep in mind: More than 22,000 Covered California enrollees broke, dislocated or sprained arms or shoulders in 2017, and 50,000 enrollees were either diagnosed with \u2014 or treated for \u2014 cancer, he explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that none of those people began the year thinking, \u2018This is when I\u2019m going to break my arm,\u2019 or \u2018This is the year I get cancer,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re considering dropping your plan and risking the devastating financial consequences of an unexpected medical expense, check first to see if you can lower your premium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA big mistake for people is to look at the notice they get for their current health insurance and see it\u2019s going up a lot and then throw up their hands and decide they\u2019re going to go without,\u201d says Donna Rosato, a New York-based editor at Consumer Reports who covers health care cost issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore you do that, look at other options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most important thing to do is seek free help from a certified insurance agent or enrollment \u201cnavigator.\u201d You can\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apply.coveredca.com\/hix\/broker\/search?anonymousFlag=Y&amp;recordType=null&amp;recordId=null&amp;lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">find local options<\/a>\u00a0by clicking on the \u201cFind Help\u201d tab on Covered California\u2019s website,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.coveredca.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.CoveredCA.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Next, see if you can qualify for more financial aid. For instance, if\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthcare.gov\/glossary\/modified-adjusted-gross-income-magi\/\">your income<\/a> is close to the threshold to qualify for tax credits through Covered California or another Obamacare insurance exchange \u2014 about $48,500 for an individual or $100,000 for a family of four this year \u2014 check with a financial professional about adjusting it, Rosato suggests. You might be able to contribute to an IRA, 401(k) or health savings account to lower the total, she says.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, be flexible and willing to switch plans, she advises. Consider different coverage levels, both on and off health insurance exchanges. If you\u2019re in a silver-level plan (the second-lowest tier), you might save money by purchasing a less expensive bronze-level plan that has higher out-of-pocket costs but would protect you in case of a medical emergency.<\/p>\n<p>This year, Farrell got a clean bill of health from her doctor after a round of tests. She\u2019s nervous about being without coverage next year, but feels she doesn\u2019t have a choice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to be the first time in my life I\u2019m not going to have insurance,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p><em>This story was produced by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/khn.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kaiser Health News<\/a>, which publishes\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.californiahealthline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Healthline<\/a>, a service of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.chcf.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">California Health Care Foundation<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A provision in last year\u2019s Republican tax bill\u00a0repeals the Obamacare tax penalty by zeroing out the fines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":652459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[117,116],"class_list":["post-652457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-health-care","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652457"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":652464,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652457\/revisions\/652464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}