OPEN ENROLLMENT: MAKING SURE CONSUMERS UNDERSTAND THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE OPTIONS
The good news is that the Affordable Care Act is helping consumers afford health care insurance, but people looking to buy coverage on the Healthcare.gov website should consider every option available to them before making a decision.
Consumers should be aware of the following options before renewing or selecting health insurance coverage:
If you let your coverage automatically renew, you may face a rate increase, even if you keep your current plan.
Each year there are new health plan options, income tax credits offered, new prices, and shifts in subsidy. For example, the price of each plan does change from year to year. More than 70% of Priority Health employees will see price decrease, this is not an industry standard.
It is also important to keep in mind that your income tax credit, which lowers your monthly premium or federal subsidy changes each year. You may want to determine what kind of cost break is available to you before making a decision. You may have money to select a plan that has better coverage than what you had the year before.
It is good practice to review your options every year because the monthly costs or premiums, is just one of many things to consider when comparing health plans.