Tips for saving big on health care!

Published: 02 August 2014 04:32 PM

Updated: 02 August 2014 04:32 PM

If your health insurance policy has a deductible of at least $1,250 for individual coverage or $2,500 for families in 2014, you may be eligible to open a health savings account. An HSA lets you set aside tax-deductible money. Or it’s pretax money through an employer. You can use it tax-free in any year to pay your insurance deductible and other medical expenses.

In 2014, you can contribute up to $3,300 to an HSA for individual coverage or up to $6,550 for family coverage. You can contribute an extra $1,000 if you are 55 or older anytime during the year.

Get credit for your deductible. Even when you’re paying out-of-pocket during the deductible period, file the claim so you’ll get the rate the insurer negotiated with the provider. Check your explanation of benefits to make sure you receive credit for costs that count toward meeting your deductible and your annual out-of-pocket spending limit.

Time your procedures carefully. Consider scheduling procedures near the end of the plan year after you’ve met your deductible, rather than waiting until the new year when your deductible resets.

Get free HSA money from your employer. Many employers match HSA contributions or seed your account after you sign up, typically adding about $500 for single plans and $1,000 for family plans. Your employer may add more if you participate in a wellness program or have a health-risk assessment.

Boost your HSA contribution limits. If you have an HSA-eligible health insurance policy on Dec. 1, you can make the full contribution for the year even if you’ve had the plan for only a short time. But if you didn’t have an HSA-eligible policy for the full year, you must then keep it for the entire following calendar year or pay a penalty.

Match your HSA investments with your time frame. If you plan to use your HSA to pay medical bills in the near future, look for an administrator with low fees and a debit card that makes it easy to use the money at the doctor’s office. If you use other cash for current medical outlays and want to keep the money growing in your HSA for a big expense down the road, look for an administrator that offers attractive investment choices. See if you can minimize fees by maintaining a minimum balance. Compare HSA administrators’ investing options and fees at hsasearch.com.

Source Kimberly Lankford, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance  Dallas News- Tips for saving big on health care

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How Secure is Your Health Insurance Subsidy?

By Tim White on August 6th, 2014
Filed: Health Insurance, Health Insurance, Health Reform, Health Reform

For four years, the Affordable Care Act  (ACA) has provided richer medical benefits to American health insurance consumers, primarily through expanded benefits but also through federal subsidies to help people afford the coverage they need.

Subsidies may be available to you if your income falls below 400% of the federal poverty line (FPL). A lot of people have received these subsidies since the beginning of 2014. However, an unexpected increase in your household income or a legal challenge of the ACA could put those subsidy dollars at risk.

 What should consumers know?

• Subsidies are based on your estimated income for the year, not on your past income. So, when applying for a subsidy, estimate your annual income as accurately as you can, but remember that changes to your income during the year may alter your eligibility for a subsidy.
• If you qualify for one, a government subsidy can have a significant financial benefit. According to a recent eHealth study, individuals who purchased a non-subsidized health insurance plan through eHealth paid an average premium of $189 per month ($2,268 per year) more than consumers receiving government subsidies.
• On average, consumers would need to pay an extra $189 per month for their health insurance if they lost their subsidy.

Two ways your health insurance subsidies could be reduced:

1.  Changes in Household Income

Consumers whose income was lower at the beginning of the year, due to unemployment or a mid-year promotion, may have a dramatic increase in monthly earnings.

While you might be excited about your new job or promotion, you might also now be ineligible for government health insurance subsidies that you were approved for at the beginning of the year.

In this case, you may be required to repay some of the subsidy you received during that year, although this value will be capped if you’re still under the 400% of the FPL. For example, if your income increases from 300% to 399% of the FPL, the law caps your liability to repay no more than $1,250.1

2. Court Challenges to the ACA

Although none of the recent court cases challenging ACA subsidies have been reviewed by the Supreme Court yet, there is still a chance that the law or sections of it could be repealed, thereby forcing individuals to repay any subsidies that were applied to their monthly health insurance premiums.

Although the Affordable Care Act has great benefits for the consumer, anyone enrolling in a health insurance plan should be fully aware of their commitment and potential financial liabilities, and also should be aware of circumstances that may modify the plan’s cost.

1 KaiserHealthNews – “What Happens If My Income Changes After I Receive An Insurance Subsidy?”

- See more at: http://blog.ehealthinsurance.com/2014/08/how-secure-health-insurance-subsidy/#sthash.f1IFnnbh.dpuf

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What's the True Cost of Health Insurance under Obamacare?

What’s the True Cost of Health Insurance under Obamacare? eHealth Launches First National Health Insurance Price Index

Premiums for 2014 individual plans currently averaging $274 per month; $663 per month for family coverage

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - February 26, 2014 – eHealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: EHTH), which operates eHealthInsurance.com, the nation's first and largest private online health insurance exchange for individuals and families, today launched the eHealth Price Index, the first and only tool of its kind that tracks on a daily basis the average monthly cost of individual and family health insurance for plans based on applications submitted nationwide through eHealth.                                      

As of February 24, 2014, the average premium for an individual health plan selected through eHealth without a subsidy was $274 per month, a 39% increase from the average individual premium for pre-Obamacare coverage¹. The most recent average premium for plans without a subsidy chosen by families was $663 per month, a 56% increase over the average family premium in February, 2013, which was $426 per month.

In addition to tracking consumer enrollment costs every day, the eHealth Price Index also shows the average age of individual applicants, the average family size for family applicants, and the most popular metal level (e.g. bronze, silver, etc.) chosen for both individuals and families. The average age of individuals submitting applications through eHealth as of February 25, 2014 is 36. The average family size for families enrolling in coverage through eHealth is three family members. For both individual and family applicants, bronze plans have been the most popular plan type chosen since the beginning of the current Open Enrollment Period.

“As the largest national health insurance marketplace, eHealth has always advocated for the consumer with transparency and clear information to demystify the process of enrolling in health insurance,” said Gary Lauer, Chairman and CEO of eHealth. “At a time when more consumers are researching health insurance, the eHealth Price Index brings this transparency and insightful consumer data to the market on a daily basis.”

Lauer continued, “We’ve seen from other studies that prices have increased across the board; our Index shows what the average consumer is able to pay for new ACA-compliant plans, without any premium assistance. This makes it the first and best-available snapshot of enrollment trends outside of government exchanges.”

The eHealth Price Index tracks consumer behavior over time, as a rolling 14-day average, providing data as early as October 15, 2013. Premiums for individual plans selected by eHealth customers on October 15 averaged $374 per month, but dropped approximately 27% to $274 by late February, 2014. This may be explained by demographic changes in the composition of shoppers over the period in question, and by shoppers choosing less expensive plans as the Open Enrollment Period progressed. The average age for individual applicants went from 44 years old in mid-October 2013 to 36 as of February 24, 2014. The average premium for family plans selected by eHealth customers went from $779 in mid-October 2013 to $663 on February 25, 2014.

In addition to the daily Index, eHealth also provides quarterly price index data that looks at consumer trends over a three month period of time, with additional data on state-level premium averages, averages by age ranges, plan types and more. The current Quarterly Index analyzes submitted applications through eHealth in the fourth quarter of 2013. Key highlights from the eHealth Quarterly Price Index include:

• 39% of the individual and family applications submitted in the fourth quarter of 2013 at eHealth were from individuals between the ages of 18-34.
• The average premium for individual policy holders in the 55 to 64 age range was $520 per month, and 21% of applicants were in this age range.
• Among 2014 plans selected in the fourth quarter of 2013, the highest average monthly premium for individual plans was found in the state of Alaska ($496) and the highest average monthly premium for family plans was found in New Jersey ($1,004).

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Article provided by ehealth.com What’s the True Cost of Health Insurance under Obamacare?