Coming up in just days, enrollment opens for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act on October 1st.
What exactly is Cover Oregon It’s Oregon’s insurance marketplace under the new health reform laws.It’s the way this state implements the Affordable Care Act.It’s for you if you are not covered through a government plan, or if you pay more than 9.5 percent of your income for your employer backed insurance.
Through coveroregon.com you’ll able to shop through the network of health insurance providers offering a total of 102 individual commercial plans throughout the state. Specifically, people in Jackson and Josephine counties will have about 50 individual policies to choose from, and there are about 40 in Coos County.
Right now the website is limited. Insurance policy details and their prices won’t be available until October 1st, and then we’re told not everyone will have full access.
Aracely Mesta of La Clinica said, “For the first few weeks no one besides those that are working with cover oregon can sign people up for it just because it’s still a learning process. We’re going to be figuring out the glitches and helping cover oregon figure out the glitches.”
La Clinica is justone place where certified assisters will be available. But before October1st you can still get an idea on what your monthly premium might be, and learn if you are one of the 400,000 oregonians expected to be eligible for a subsidy.
We searched what a Medford family of four with an annual household income of $60,000 using the site’s subsidy calculator. All you have to do is answer the questions and it calculates the cost of a middle-grade policy based on your age, income, household size, and where you live.
For our search we found the family’s initial monthly premium is estimated at $750 dollars. This family qualifies for a 45% tax credit subsidy, so it will end up costing them only $410 a month.
For many a subsidy means access to the health care they otherwise couldn’t afford.
La Clinica C.E.O. Brenda Johnson said, “Currently La Clinica serves about 22,000 people a year. About 11,000 of those are uninsured. We’re anticipating about 7,000 of our existing patients will have access to insurance that they’ve never had before. in addition they will have access to specialty care that they may have never had access to in the past.”
Meanwhile, some who don’t qualify for a subsidy are worried they may have to pay more than they do now for coverage.
Insurance shopper Mary Beth Lee said, “I seem to fall right on the dividing line. Cover Oregon is estimating, for what they call a benchmark plan which i assume is something in the middle, will cost me $848 a month. I only bring home 600 bucks a week. You figure it.”
Alot of it is a wait and see game. The more people who participate, the cheaper the prices are allegedly going to be.
There are an estimated 240 million people unaffected. If you have insurance through a government program, or affordable insurance through your employer, you’re not eligible to enroll. This only affects those not previously covered, or those who buy their own insurance and wish to shop for more affordable coverage or see if they qualify for a subsidy.
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