The Health Insurance Marketplace
Here’s how it works:
- Go to HealthCare.gov and select "start now." (For Spanish, go to CuidadoDeSalud.gov.)
- You'll be asked to answer some basic questions about yourself including your age, what state you live in and whether your income falls above or below a certain threshold.
- Read about options that might apply to you, including preventive care benefits, federal tax credits, government health care programs and other information.
- Alternatively, you can call a customer service representative for help at 800-318-2596. Hearing-impaired customers using TTY/TDD technology can dial 855-889-4325.
Know the basics
Most employers are using a standard form from the federal government to inform their employees about the Health Insurance Marketplace. Here are some key points it includes.
- What the Health Insurance Marketplace is
- Whether a worker can save money on premiums through the marketplace
- Whether employer health coverage affects a worker's eligibility for premium savings
- How to get more information about the marketplace
- Whether an employer's plan meetings the "minimum value standard" required by the government
The Affordable Care Act is coming to your mailbox.
If they follow the law, Georgia companies large and small will be sending their employees a letter — some by email, some on hard copy — explaining the opening of the Health Insurance Marketplace on Tuesday. Some employers have already met the Oct. 1 deadline for sending out the notices.
The goal: help employees understand what the notoriously complex health law means for them and their families, while also curtailing the barrage of questions that human resources departments will receive in the coming weeks.
“This takes the annual enrollment and puts it on steroids because there are so many moving parts,” said David Foster, a benefits expert at HR consulting firm Buck Consultants. Without good communication, “people are going to be making assumptions — sometimes right, sometimes wrong.”
While the health care law requires businesses to issue the notices, there is no penalty for not doing so. But many are doing it anyway and going above and beyond with help lines, educational videos and information posted on company intranet sites, Foster said.
The notices include basic information, including what the marketplace website is, whether the insurance offered by companies is considered “affordable” and whether workers could be eligible for federal tax credits if they opt to buy coverage through the site. Many employers are using a basic form provided by the federal government.s.
Aflac sent its notices out Sept. 6. Spokesperson Laura Kane said the main points were: that employees would have a new health insurance option on Oct. 1; that more information about the public exchanges could be found at sources for which Internet links including HealthCare.gov were provided; and that open enrollment for the company’s plan would be coming soon.
Delta Air Lines said it, too, is customizing the form letter but employees haven’t received it yet. The notice will go out by mail and will also be posted on the company intranet.
Shawn Still, general manager of Olympic Pool Plastering in Norcross, had his notices hand-delivered to his 50-plus employees.
“(Employers) don’t have the time to be answering millions of questions about the great unknown marketplace,” said Jodie Braner, a benefit consultant with Hays Companies of Georgia. “Folks need to become more consumer-like. We want to help them realize this is their responsibility.”
Nearly 900,000 Georgians are expected to shop for insurance on the exchange website. The health plans they buy there will take effect Jan. 1.
The exchange is aimed mostly at consumers who don’t get insurance through work, such as the self-employed, unemployed and students.
About 5.1 million, or 52 percent, of Georgians get insurance through their employer, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But even those who don’t get insurance through work should keep an eye out for information, experts say. For companies with a lot of part-time workers, the exchange presents an opportunity to help their employees get affordable coverage.
Companies are also trying to educate workers about the Affordable Care Act, in part, to straighten out misconceptions.
For one, your employer isn’t involved in running the new exchange. You may also not qualify for tax credits to help buy insurance on the exchange if your employer offers what the government deems to be “affordable” coverage. That means it can’t cost more than 9.5 percent of a worker’s individual income.
And the implementation of Obamacare doesn’t mean your employer is dropping insurance coverage and that you have to buy it on the exchange.
“Most of the (businesses) providing coverage are continuing to provide coverage … because they need to remain competitive,” said Russ Childers, an insurance broker in Americus. “They’re going to do that as long as they can afford to do that.”
Some people even think that Obamacare is providing free insurance for people, which isn’t the case, said Childers, who is telling his business clients to attach the exchange notices to workers’ paychecks. He added that even with the notices being sent out, people will still have plenty of questions.
The first few weeks of the exchange launch may be bumpy, said Foster with Buck Consultants. Employees need to be patient and pay attention more than ever to the insurance information their employers provide, Foster said.
“A lot of times, for people who have been in insurance plans in the past, it’s a 10- or 15-minute decision. This year’s different,” he said. “Be careful not to throw away something important. Be a good consumer.”
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