Health exchange question, not opinion, just info needed

[mhfrau]

Completely out of the blue this week, a wonderful new job opportunity came up for my husband. He met with them today to go over the offer, and everything is fantastic... except the cost of family coverage on the available health plans. We pay a lot now, but his new company will be set up differently in terms of their contributions, and while they will cover 60% of his premium, they contribute nothing towards dependent coverage and it is wildly expensive. I mean like $1200 a month expensive! If he elected the single coverage, it would be very comprehensive and fairly cheap, which is great, but that leaves me and our son needing separate coverage.

I don't work, so we've always been covered by his employer. With the whole Affordable Healthcare Act and the website, I'm totally confused what our options would be or if we could even go on the exchanges since there is technically employer sponsored plans available to us, even though we simply can't afford them. I have combed that website every which way for hours, but I can't find an answer to this.

Sooo, after that long-winded backstory, does anyone know if some family members can go on the exchanges for coverages IF they are dependents of someone who has family coverage available? If I'm understanding it so far, it seems like we could, but obviously we would be paying the standard rates, with no subsidy. That would be fine because the 2 separate costs combined, his single employer coverage and our platinum(!) plan straight premium, would still be less than the family coverage premium through his employer. Even considering that our portion would be paid with after-tax dollars. Help me out dissers

 

[PatMcDuck]

We are in a mess with health care too. DH is retired from union construction. (he is 56, it becomes very hard to do physical construction as the guys age). We have to pay for family medical, it is about $650/mo, going up to $750 next year. It covers him, me, and DD.

DD turns 22 in February. Obama law EXCLUDES retirees from the "stay on parents plan until age 26" option. Even though she is a FT student, we will have to buy her some kind of insurance next year, this on top of the $750 for DH and me.

In our case, we might have to spin her off, no longer declare her a dependent, and she will then qualify for the subsidy, I think. As a FT student, she only makes a few thousand $$ a year. So confusing, and no idea where to look for advice.

 

[pantherlj]

Completely out of the blue this week, a wonderful new job opportunity came up for my husband. He met with them today to go over the offer, and everything is fantastic... except the cost of family coverage on the available health plans. We pay a lot now, but his new company will be set up differently in terms of their contributions, and while they will cover 60% of his premium, they contribute nothing towards dependent coverage and it is wildly expensive. I mean like $1200 a month expensive! If he elected the single coverage, it would be very comprehensive and fairly cheap, which is great, but that leaves me and our son needing separate coverage.

I don't work, so we've always been covered by his employer. With the whole Affordable Healthcare Act and the website, I'm totally confused what our options would be or if we could even go on the exchanges since there is technically employer sponsored plans available to us, even though we simply can't afford them. I have combed that website every which way for hours, but I can't find an answer to this.

Sooo, after that long-winded backstory, does anyone know if some family members can go on the exchanges for coverages IF they are dependents of someone who has family coverage available? If I'm understanding it so far, it seems like we could, but obviously we would be paying the standard rates, with no subsidy. That would be fine because the 2 separate costs combined, his single employer coverage and our platinum(!) plan straight premium, would still be less than the family coverage premium through his employer. Even considering that our portion would be paid with after-tax dollars. Help me out dissers

If his portion of the healhcare insurance is less than 9.5% of the household income then you and your son wouldn't be eligible for a subsidy but you can still buy on the exchange.
Or, you can buy off the exchange with a carrier in your state. The prices would probably be about the same but you might have more options. Some carriers are only selling off exchange. They should still meet all the ACA requirements though.

 

[TLuvsD]

PatMcDuck, check with your daughter's school, they often offer health insurance for the students. Our D has great coverage through her school.

Check with an agent in your area for health insurance. We've always paid for ours, so those rates don't really shock me. It's expensive.

 

[SamSam]

PatMcDuck, check with your daughter's school, they often offer health insurance for the students. Our D has great coverage through her school.

Check with an agent in your area for health insurance. We've always paid for ours, so those rates don't really shock me. It's expensive.

I was going to suggest that also. Both our kids had to go off our policy at age 21 and since they went on to graduate school, they bought insurance through their school. It was affordable and pretty good coverage.

 

[djmeredith]

Go to your state's website (if it has its own) or the federal website and plug in your info and see what kind of offers are available.

In our case, we might have to spin her off, no longer declare her a dependent, and she will then qualify for the subsidy, I think. As a FT student, she only makes a few thousand $$ a year. So confusing, and no idea where to look for advice.

Checking with the school is a great suggestion. Especially if you are in a state that did not choose to expand Medicaid. The non-Medicaid ACA plans are of no benefit to young, healthy, extremely low income people who do not have kids of their own. Extremely low income people do not make enough money to qualify for the subsidies under ACA, but they still don't qualify for traditional Medicaid because those guidelines remain the same in the states that didn't expand. A co-worker was shocked to learn that his "starving artist" daughter falls into this category because LA did not expand Medicaid so the cheapest plan for her is $200 per month.

 

[clh2]

Our DD's college previously offered health insurance, and NOW that we might need it, the insurance company is not writing any new plans, due to the availability of the plans on the exchange.