LIVING 50 PLUS
DECEMBER 2019 D7
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
HEALTH INSURANCE 2020
been in business in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota for the last 40 years, will remain in the state. It has expanded now to Kansas and will be offering Medicare Supplements in Eastern Nebraska. It has 2 networks of providers in the state dependent on your zip code. I'm hearing that their rates may be decreasing for the year. Bright Health, the new carrier, locat- ed in Minneapolis, MN, was found- ed in 2016 and currently does busi- ness in Alabama, Colorado, Arizona, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee. It's expanding to Nebraska, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina for 2020. Their provider network is Midlands Choice so almost all Nebraska physicians are included in the net- work. They do provide pediatric dental and vision for kids under 19 in their plans. According to their brochure, they do offer a few perks in the program such as up to 4 rides to the doctor, meals after a hospital stay as well as cash for healthy behavior. If you are currently receiving subsi- dies through the Marketplace, your income needs to be updated to recalculate tax credits for the 2020 plan year. At that time, you'll be able to see plans and rates for both Medica and Bright Health. Federal subsidies are dependent on household size and annual incomes. For a household size of 1, if your income is between
$12,490 and $49,960 (100%-400% of federal poverty level), you could be eligible for a subsidy or assis- tance in paying for your premiums. For a couple, the income levels are $16,910 to $67,640 and a family of 4 is $25,750 to $103,000. Any incomes below the 100% of federal poverty levels are outside the range of subsidy and would have been eli- gible for Medicaid but Nebraska hasn't expanded their Medicaid consequently, they would have to purchase without assistance. Those clients wanting plans with Health Savings Accounts (HSA's) can contribute up to $3550 for an individual or $7100 for a family, those age 55 and older can add an extra $1000 for a catch-up contribu- tion in 2020. If you're a small business owner, you may want to think about moving to group health insurance. Here's the criteria for offering group insurance, you must have at least 1-W2 employee plus the owner. United Healthcare will offer insur- ance to the employee plus the owner. Blue Cross requires 2-W2 employees. Rates are lower for group coverage so you might want to consider it if you have a couple ranch hands, or have a small office staff, or small business with an employee. You are required to pay at least 50% of the employee por- tion of their premium but that is con- sidered a business expense and reduces your taxable income so it's not a dollar for dollar cost to your business.
For those looking for cost savings, Short Term coverage is available, several carriers are offering it for 2020. These are not ACA compli- ant as it doesn't cover pre-existing conditions and asks some health questions but it is available at a dra- matically lower price for those that don't receive subsidies. Both United Healthcare and the new player, Blue Cross Blue Shield are offering these plans. Blue Cross covers generic medications, doctor visits, and has 12 months of cover- age. It also covers preventative health services and outpatient men- tal health services. It's called Armor Health and those that are losing their Blue Cross grandfathered plans are being offered this in place of their coverage that is ending at the end of the year. That plan does- n't automatically roll over for those losing coverage, you do have to apply for it. Remember, these changes are for those people age 64 and under who purchase their individual health insurance and has nothing to do with Medicare. As you can see, there are lots of changes for 2020. Remember the Open Enrollment period runs from November 1 to December 15, so don't wait until the last minute to try to schedule an appointment. If you have questions or want to schedule an appointment with Rebecca, call Phares Financial Services at 308-532-3180.
By Rebecca Nordquist, RD, MHA, CLTC
Oh my, the changes are daily. Let's try to keep up.
As you may be aware, Open Enrollment for Individual Health Insurance (NOT Medicare) begins shortly. It seems like we just did this, but it begins November 1st and continues to December 15, 2019 for a January 1st effective date. There have been significant changes in the Nebraska market for 2020. We'll have a new player in the Nebraska health insurance market. Bright Health is entering the ACA compliant market in addi- tion to Medica for next year. Those with grandfathered Blue Cross plans will terminate at the end of December this year.
Medica, although a new carrier to Nebraska and Iowa in 2016, has
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