In 2010 President Obama passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which allows for all Americans to enroll in health insurance and receive an affordable medical plan. The plan cost is based on an individual or family’s household income. Essentially, a person earning less money will pay less for their coverage. The law also provides lower income households with lower deductibles.
Overview to the Health Insurance Exchange
The first step is to determine if your income qualifies for a reduced health insurance premium.
Either schedule a phone call to help process your reduced rate or view Health Insurance Exchange Quotes (Notice: If you view quotes, you must click the “Estimate Subsidy” to have an idea of what your reduced rate would be).
Applying for Health Insurance with Reduced Rate / Subsidy
Once you expect your family will qualify for a reduced rate or if you need help determining this, you should schedule a call with our staff. Our Staff is made up of dually state licensed Insurance Agents and FFMs, Federally Facilitated MarketPlace Agents. Both of these certifications are required to assist you from start to finish. There is no cost to work with the agent. The agent will proceed as follows:
- Determine Family Size
- Determine type of tax return: joint, single, head of household, etc.
- Estimate subsidy
- Check Available Plan options within applicant’s region
- Review estimated deductibles and estimated cost of plan
- Guide applicant through Exchange application submission to determine exact premium credit / subsidy.
- Shop unique health insurance plans and review options.
- Review Doctors and Hospitals
- Applicant selects plan
- Applicant submits first month’s premium
The entire application process for the health exchange is usually only 15-30 minutes. It has been determined that applicants who schedule a phone call with us sooner than later have the more positive experience. A good way to think of the process is like doing your taxes. An FFM is much like an accountant that you can use for free. All you have to do is provide the FFM with the info and they can get an end result for you.
In the past health insurance was purchased through a complex system of shopping and medical underwriting and rate ups and exclusions. Now the system is mostly based on applying federal subsidy money to the plans being offered. About 56% of all Americans will get a federal subsidy. While individual health insurance companies do administer coverage the plans are all either Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, or Catastrophic for adults under thirty years old. The basic design of the plans is set by the Federal Government.