Important Dates, What Plans Are Available?

There are a couple of dates you should be aware of regarding the Affordable Care Act.

 December 15th, 2013

This is the last day you can enroll in a plan and have a January 1, 2014 effective date. Going forward, any enrollments completed prior to the 15th of a month will have an effective date of the 1st of the next month.

March 31, 2014

This is the last day you can enroll in a plan to comply with the individual mandate that everyone, with a few exceptions, has health insurance. The penalty for not having coverage in 2014 is $95.00 per adult, $47.50 per child or 1% of your household income, whichever is greater.

Another date which is important is November 30, 2013. This is the date given by the government for the https://www.healthcare.gov/ web site to be running smoothly for the majority of Americans.

Since the federal site is not functioning properly many people have not been able to see what types of plans are being offered and what the prices are. If you live in DuPage County there are three companies with policies available in the marketplace (exchange). They are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Aetna, and Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Company.

If you would like to see the plans available you can go to the following sites. As an Independent, Authorized Agent of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois you can go to my link here –

https://retailweb.hcsc.net/retailshoppingcart/IL/census?ExpressLinkedAgentId=8610

You can get a quote and an estimate of your tax subsidy without entering any personally identifying information. I would recommend that you get the tax estimate, not the official determination as that will take you to the federal site and you may not be able to get through. Only get the official determination when you are ready to apply.

I am also licensed with Aetna, and you can look at some of their plans here

https://www51.aetna.com/iqs/cp/aimquote.do 

I am not an agent for Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Company, but you can access their plans here – 

https://www.landoflincolnhealth.org/ 

The https://www.healthcare.gov/ site has added a feature allowing you to shop for plans and prices without going through the entire enrollment process first. Please note that the premiums you get back will NOT be the premiums you may pay when you actually apply. They are showing you estimates only and your premiums will be dependent on age, family size, etc. when you sign up.

One of the key features of the new healthcare law is the elimination of pre-existing condition limitations. Everyone is guaranteed to have a policy issued no matter their health status. The only factors taken into account in determining an individual’s premium are home zip code (county of residence), age, and smoking status.

If you would like to contact me directly you can call me at 630-985-9628 or by email – mikekrucek@clear.net.