Health Insurance Blog

       Money is the driving force behind people's livelihoods, and with the state of the world the past few years, it has been more of a worry for most people than ever before. Already, medical costs are the number one cause of bankruptcies in the United States. In other words, healthcare costs are rising along with the cost of everything else in this country. So what does that mean? What is the best possible situation for you and your family? How can you get the most affordable but still quality health insurance? 

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       Your first thought when reading this article might be that you want the cheapest health insurance plan out there, and that is medicaid right? In some ways you might be correct but, you actually will be surprised how affordable your other options are. How familiar are you with ACA (Obamacare) plans? Most people, when they think about marketplace insurance, their first thought might be that it is way too expensive for me. Making this short and sweet, I am here to educate you on ACA plans and to tell you that is most likely NOT true. 

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       Have you ever heard the phrase “you get what you pay for? “ When tying that along with  health insurance, that saying is more true than you know. When it comes to Medicaid, it is essentially free health insurance. But it's free for a reason, remember that. In 2022 there were 14.5 million people enrolled in federal exchange plans (ACA). 89% of those people actually qualified for a no-cost bronze plan, so essentially free health insurance... Now let me explain; in short, the subsidies are a significant part of the “affordable” in the Affordable Care Act. What is a premium subsidy and are you eligible to receive them? 

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       What you need to know about the premium tax credits (premium subsidies) created by the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). These subsidies are available through the exchange/marketplace in every state. And they are available to you so take advantage of them. In other words these subsidies act as a discount towards your health insurance premium. Now this money that you won't ever see as the government sends your tax credit straight to your carrier and goes towards your premium. It's pretty simple. So going back to when I said “ you pay for you get” , medicaid is actually the free option and does not have any monthly premium attached to its name. But that is not the same with the marketplace exchange plans. The average full price premium plan in 2022 was around $592 and with the tax credits being applied most people had plan options that equaled out to no-cost monthly premiums. 

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       So my question to you is why not at least exhaust your options? If you have been on medicaid in the past or even currently on medicaid, you most likely will qualify for amazing premium discounts and have the chance to be covered by bronze and silver plans for no cost at all. And remember those plans normally are around $500 before your tax credit is applied. Amazing benefits, more doctors and hospitals available to you, and over hundreds of plans to choose from. So why not go with the better option that will cost you the same amount, but offer more secure coverage so you can sleep better at night?

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