Open enrollment for 2023 ACA coverage: what to expect

Key takeaways

The tenth annual open enrollment for ACA-compliant individual/family health coverage is just around the corner. It starts November 1, and will continue through January 15 in most states.

Millions of Americans will enroll or renew their coverage for 2023 during open enrollment. Some have been buying their own health insurance for years, while others are fairly new to the process. And some are currently uninsured or have been covered by plans that aren’t ACA-compliant – such asa  healthcare sharing ministry plan or short-term health insurance.

This article will give you an overview of what to expect during the open enrollment period. For even more information about open enrollment, check out our comprehensive guide to open enrollment.

ACA open enrollment will look mostly familiar this fall

In general, this year’s open enrollment period will be fairly similar to last year’s, but with some changes that we’ll address in more detail below:

  • Each state will continue to use the same exchange/marketplace platform it used last fall (HealthCare.gov in 33 states, and a state-run platform in DC and the other 17 states). And most states will continue to use the same enrollment schedule they used last year.
  • The Inflation Reduction Act has extended the American Rescue Plan’s subsidy enhancements through 2025, so the subsidy rules that were in effect for 2022 will continue to be in effect for 2023. (There’s no “subsidy cliff” and the percentage of income that you have to pay for the benchmark plan is lower than it used to be.)
  • Because the subsidy enhancements have been extended, the record-high enrollment we saw this year is likely to continue, and the improved affordability that the American Rescue Plan created will also continue. But that doesn’t mean your premium will stay the same — more on this below.
  • Brokers and Navigators will continue to provide assistance with enrollment. And Navigator funding is higher than ever before, in an effort to increase outreach and enrollment assistance.
  • The insurers offering health plans through the exchanges (and outside the exchanges) will generally be the same insurers that offered plans for 2022. But there are several insurers joining the exchange or expanding their coverage area for 2023, and some insurers that are shrinking their coverage areas.
  • The IRS has proposed a fix for the “family glitch” which will make some families newly eligible for premium subsidies in the marketplace.

Open enrollment dates and deadlines for 2023 plans

By now, most people are accustomed to the fact that individual/family health coverage is no longer available for purchase year-round, and instead uses open enrollment and special enrollment periods, similar to those used for employer-sponsored plans. The same open enrollment schedules apply to plans purchased through the exchange/marketplace and to plans purchased from insurance companies through private channels (ie, “off-exchange”).

Open enrollment begins November 1, and in nearly every state, it will continue through at least January 15. (Note that Idaho is an exception: Open enrollment in Idaho starts and ends earlier, running from October 15 to December 15. Idaho is the only state where open enrollment for 2023 coverage will end before the start of the year.)

So in most states, the enrollment schedule will follow the same timeframe that was used last year. And in most states, you’ll need to enroll by December 15 in order to have your coverage take effect on January 1. Enrolling after December 15 will generally result in a February 1 effective date.

One caveat to keep in mind: If your current health plan is terminating at the end of 2022 and not available for renewal, you can select a new plan as late as December 31 and still have it take effect January 1.

Although open enrollment continues through at least mid-January in most states, it’s generally in your best interest to finalize your plan selection in time to have the coverage in force on January 1. We’ve explained this in much more detail here.

In most states, that means you’ll need to enroll or make a plan change by December 15. In terms of the effective date of your coverage, there’s no difference between enrolling on November 1 versus December 15. But waiting until the last minute might feel a bit more stressful, and you might have trouble finding an enrollment assister who can help you at that point. You don’t need to be the first person in line, but it’s good to give yourself a bit of wiggle room in case you run into glitches with the enrollment process or find that you’d like assistance with some or all of it.

Rest assured, however, that open enrollment continues until at least mid-January in most states. So if there’s no way for you to get signed up in the earlier part of the enrollment window, you can most likely complete the process after the start of the year and have coverage in effect as of February.

Insurers entering and leaving individual and family markets

As is always the case, there will be some fluctuation in terms of which insurers offer individual/family health coverage for 2023. For the last several years, the general trend has been toward increased insurer participation in the exchanges. Here’s more about what we saw in 2020, 2021, and 2022.)

That trend is continuing in 2023, with new insurers joining (or rejoining) the exchanges in many states. But there are also some insurer exits that existing enrollees need to be aware of.

Several insurers are joining exchanges in the following states for 2023:

But there are also some insurers exiting the marketplaces in several states, including:

And even in states where the participating 2023 insurers will be the same ones that offered coverage in 2022, there may be service area changes in some states. This could result in an insurer’s plans becoming newly available in some areas, or no longer available in some areas.

Last year, we detailed the things that people need to keep in mind if a new insurer is joining the exchange. All of those points are still applicable for people in areas where new insurers will offer plans in 2023.

The main takeaway point is that it’s important to actively compare your available plan options, as opposed to just letting your existing plan auto-renew. One of the new plans (or another existing plan) might end up being a better fit for your needs. But it’s also possible that the benchmark plan’s pricing could change significantly, affecting the amount of your subsidy. If the price of your current plan shoots up, a comparable plan will likely be available for about what you paid this year (if your income and family size haven’t changed).

It’s also worth keeping in mind that the insurer’s estimate of what you’re likely to pay in the coming year, provided in a letter this fall, may be inaccurate – again, because of a shift in its pricing relationship to this year’s benchmark plan. You’ll get a separate letter from the exchange with details about your subsidy amount for 2023 and the amount you’ll pay if you let your current plan renew. But it’s also essential to log onto the exchange, update your information, and learn what your current plan and alternative plans will cost in 2023.

The ‘family glitch’ fix will help some buyers

Ever since ACA-compliant plans debuted in the fall of 2013, people have been ineligible for subsidies if they’re eligible for an employer-sponsored health plan that’s considered affordable. And the affordability determination has always been based on the cost of employee-only coverage, without taking into account the cost to add family members to the plan. But if the employer-sponsored plan was deemed affordable, the entire family was ineligible for subsidies in the marketplace, as long as they were eligible to be added to the employer’s plan. This is known as the “family glitch,” and it has put affordable health coverage out of reach for millions of Americans over the years.

Earlier this year, the IRS proposed a long-awaited fix for the family glitch, which is expected to be in place by the time open enrollment gets underway. Under the proposed rule change, the marketplace will do two separate affordability determinations when a family has access to an employer’s plan: one for the employee, and one for total family coverage. If the employee’s coverage is considered affordable but the family’s is not, the rest of the family will potentially be eligible for subsidies in the marketplace.

Some families will still find that they prefer to use the employer’s plan, despite the cost. But some will find that it’s beneficial to put some or all of the family members on a marketplace plan, even while the employee continues to have employer-sponsored coverage.

The main point to keep in mind here is that it’s important to double check your marketplace options this fall – even if you looked in the past and weren’t eligible for subsidies due to an offer of employer-sponsored coverage.

How are ACA premiums changing for 2023?

The only way to know for sure what your 2023 premium will be is to watch for correspondence from your insurer and exchange. They will notify you this fall about changes to your plan for 2023, including the new premium (and subsidy amount if you’re subsidy-eligible; most people are).

There’s a lot of variation from one plan to another in terms of pricing changes, and your net (after-subsidy) premium will also depend on how much your subsidy changes for 2023. But here’s a general overview of what to keep in mind:

  • Across most of the states, the preliminary average rate change for 2023 amounts to a 7.7% increase, according to ACA Signups. Final rates aren’t yet available in many states, but we’re generally seeing final rates that tend to be a bit lower than the insurers proposed. (This is partly due to the Inflation Reduction Act — which was enacted after insurers filed their rates and which will result in slightly smaller-than-proposed rate increases for some plans — and partly due to state regulators’ actions to reduce rates during the review process).
  • That’s a little larger than the overall average rate increases we’ve seen for the last few years (3.5% for 2022, less than 1% for 2021, and a slight decrease for 2020). But an overall average rate change only gives us a big picture; it doesn’t tell you how much your own plan’s premium will change or how much your net premium will change, and it also doesn’t account for the new plans that will be offered for 2023.
  • If the benchmark (second-lowest-cost Silver plan) premium in your area goes up, subsidy amounts will also go up. Conversely, if the benchmark premium goes down, subsidy amounts will also go down. This is independent of what your own plan’s price does. It can be possible, for example, for your plan’s premium to go up while the benchmark premium goes down (perhaps because a new insurer takes over the benchmark spot), resulting in a more significant increase in the actual amount you pay each month. This is why it’s so important to pay close attention to the information you receive from your insurer and the exchange, and to carefully consider all of your options during open enrollment.

As open enrollment draws closer, we’ll continue to update our open enrollment guide and our overview of each state’s marketplace.

You can start doing your plan shopping research now

If you already have marketplace coverage, keep an eye out for correspondence from the marketplace and your insurer. If you currently have off-exchange coverage, be sure to check your eligibility for subsidies in the marketplace; you might find that you can get a much better value by switching to a plan offered through the marketplace.

And if you’re currently uninsured or enrolled in non-ACA-compliant coverage, you’ll definitely want to look at the plan options that are available to you during open enrollment, and check your eligibility for subsidies. You might be surprised to see how affordable your coverage can be. The average enrollee is paying $133/month this year, and more than a quarter of enrollees are paying less than $10/month. Although specific plan prices change from one year to the next, this same overall level of affordability will continue in 2023.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

How will the Inflation Reduction Act help marketplace enrollees?

After months of stalled progress, legislation that would extend the American Rescue Plan’s health insurance subsidy enhancements is back on the table in the U.S. Senate. That’s great news for the 13 million Americans who are eligible for premium tax credits (subsidies) that offset the cost of marketplace (exchange) health insurance.

The Inflation Reduction Act was announced in late July, and a vote in the Senate is expected next week. The legislation – which is both a climate and healthcare bill – addresses several pressing priorities, including a three-year extension of the subsidy enhancements delivered by the American Rescue Plan.

How would the Inflation Reduction Act affect marketplace subsidies?

If the Senate and House both pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the current marketplace subsidy structure will remain in place through the end of 2025, instead of expiring at the end of 2022. This would help marketplace shoppers in several ways:

  • The subsidy cliff would continue to not exist for the next three years, meaning that Americans with income above 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL) would still be potentially eligible for subsidies. Subsidy eligibility would depend on the percentage of income that a person would have to spend on the benchmark plan, and subsidies would be available – even with income above 400% of FPL – if the benchmark plan would otherwise be more than 8.5% of household income.
  • Subsidies would continue to be larger than they were pre-ARP. The size of the subsidies varies by income, age, and area, but they limit the after-subsidy cost of the benchmark plan to a pre-determined percentage of household income. That percentage of income is on a sliding scale, and the ARP reduced it to 0% – 8.5%. Under the ACA, it had been 2% – 9.5%, with small annual inflation adjustments. With the ARP in place, the 0% – 8.5% scale has been used for 2021 and 2022 health plans. And the Inflation Reduction Act would lock in that same scale through the end of 2025.
  • The ongoing marketplace special enrollment period for subsidy-eligible applicants with household income up to 150% of FPL would continue to be available through 2025. HHS has clarified that this enrollment opportunity is only available as long as benchmark plans are premium-free for buyers at this income level. If the ACA’s scale were to return, subsidy-eligible applicants at the lower end of the income scale would pay roughly 2% of their income for the benchmark plan. But with the ARP’s scale in place, these applicants pay 0% of their income for the benchmark plan. The Inflation Reduction Act would continue that for three more years, allowing the special enrollment opportunity to continue as well.

Full-price premiums will still change in 2023; across more than half the states so far, the overall proposed average rate increase is about 8% – much of which is not related to whether the ARP subsidies are extended. But most enrollees do not pay full price. In 2022, about 89% of marketplace enrollees receive premium subsidies. HHS estimates that 3 million people will lose their coverage altogether – while 10 million will see their subsidies decline or disappear – if the ARP subsidies are not extended under the Inflation Reduction Act.

To be clear, even if the Inflation Reduction Act is enacted, there will be fluctuations in subsidy amounts and after-subsidy premiums for renewing plans. This happens every year, depending on how much the benchmark premium changes (keeping in mind that the benchmark plan can be a different plan from one year to the next) and how much the cost of a particular plan changes.

But with the Inflation Reduction Act, overall affordability will remain the same as it is this year, as the benchmark plan would continue to cost the same percentage of income that people pay this year. (We do have to keep in mind that the benchmark plan can be a different plan from one year to the next, new plans might be available for the coming year, and rates for other plans relative to the benchmark plan can also change.)

Without the Inflation Reduction Act, coverage would become much less affordable in 2023. HHS calculations show that if the ARP subsidy enhancements hadn’t been in effect this year, the premiums that enrollees paid themselves – after subsidies were applied – would have been 53% higher in the 33 states that use HealthCare.gov. That’s the sort of scenario that millions of marketplace enrollees would see in 2023 without the Inflation Reduction Act.

What does the Inflation Reduction Act not do?

Although the Inflation Reduction Act is a dramatically scaled-back version of 2021’s Build Back Better Act (which passed the House but then stalled in the Senate), the bill’s extension of the current ARP subsidy enhancements is identical to the ARP subsidy enhancement extension that was in the Build Back Better Act.

But there were some additional Build Back Better Act subsidy provisions that are not included in the Inflation Reduction Act: The Inflation Reduction Act will not close the Medicaid coverage gap that still exists in 11 states. It will not reinstate the temporary unemployment-related subsidies that were available in 2021. And it will not change the way affordability is determined for employer-sponsored health coverage.

Will the Inflation Reduction Act pass?

Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act is not a sure thing. It needs the backing of all 50 members of the Senate’s Democratic Caucus in order to pass, and that’s not a given.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has said that the House will pass the measure if and when they receive it from the Senate. Although the margin isn’t quite as tight in the House, Democrats can lose at most four votes in order to pass the bill in that chamber.

What does the Inflation Reduction Act legislation mean for 2023 open enrollment?

Open enrollment for 2023 health coverage starts on November 1. If the Inflation Reduction Act is enacted this summer, consumers should expect to see the same general level of affordability for 2023 that they had in 2022.

But this always varies from one area to another depending on factors such as new insurers entering a market, or state reinsurance programs that bring down full-price rates and result in lower subsidies. Even with the Inflation Reduction Act in place, that sort of subsidy and premium fluctuation will still happen in some areas and for some plans.

If the Inflation Reduction Act does not pass, net premiums will increase sharply for most current enrollees when their coverage renews for 2023. Some enrollees will need to switch to lower-cost plans in order to keep their premiums affordable.

Regardless of whether the ARP subsidy enhancements continue into 2023 or expire at the end of 2022, it will be important to carefully consider all options during open enrollment. There will be shifting insurer participation in some areas, changing premiums, and new plan designs.

People who buy their own health insurance will need to consider all of the available plans and select the one that best fits their needs and budget. That may or may not be the same plan they had this year, regardless of what happens with the ARP subsidy enhancements.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

The case for switching from Bronze to Silver

Key takeaways


In the 2022 open enrollment period for ACA marketplace plans, more Americans enrolled than in any previous year. An estimated 14.5 million people obtained 2022 marketplace coverage, an increase of 21% over 2021. And 89% of them were subsidized, with the federal government paying more than 80% of the premium on average in the 33 states that use HealthCare.gov, the federal platform.

The increased enrollment was largely due to a boost to premium subsidies provided last March by the American Rescue Plan. (The boost extends only through 2022 and subsidy increases will expire next year unless Congress extends them.) The ARP did away with the ACA’s notorious subsidy cliff, which cut off subsidy eligibility at 400% of the Federal Poverty Level ($51,040 for an individual, $104,800 for a family of four in 2022). The ARP also reduced the percentage of income required to pay for a benchmark Silver plan (the second cheapest Silver plan in each area) at every income level.

In fact, the ARP made a benchmark Silver plan free at incomes up to 150%  FPL. A third of all marketplace enrollees – 4.9 million – have incomes below that threshold ($19,320 for an individual, $26,130 for a couple, $39,750 for a family of four).

That’s really good news. But not every low-income enrollee obtained the full value of the coverage available to them. A substantial number chose or remained enrolled in Bronze plans with much higher out-of-pocket costs.

Bronze plan holders may be leaving money on the table

At incomes up to 250% FPL, Silver plans are enhanced by cost-sharing reduction, which reduces out-of-pocket costs. CSR is particularly strong at incomes up to 150% FPL, where it reduces the average deductible to $146 and the average annual out-of-pocket maximum – the most an enrollee will pay for in-network care – to $1,208. Bronze plans – in prior years usually the only free option – have deductibles averaging $7,051 and OOP maxes usually in the $7,000-8,700 range.

Thanks to the ARP, every ACA market now has two Silver plans that are free to people with incomes up to 150% FPL, and often several more with single-digit premiums. Still, more than 600,000 enrollees with income below the 150% FPL threshold – 14% of enrollees in that income category – are enrolled in Bronze plans. Many of them may have been enrolled in those Bronze plans in 2021, when Silver plans were rarely free, and let themselves be passively auto-renewed, which happens if you take no action during the open enrollment period.

A small percentage of enrollees with income under 150% FPL may be ineligible for premium subsidies – for example, if they have an offer of insurance from an employer that’s deemed affordable by ACA standards but for some reason prefer to pay full cost for a marketplace plan. But the vast majority of the 618,575 low-income enrollees in Bronze plans are leaving serious money on the table – or, more exactly, exposing themselves to serious costs if they prove to need significant medical care.

At low incomes, a new opportunity to switch to Silver

Fortunately, if you find yourself in this situation – enrolled in a Bronze plan while a free high-CSR Silver plan is available to you – CMS (U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) has created a remedy that went into effect just this March. As Louise Norris recently explained on this site:

In September 2021, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services finalized a new special enrollment period (SEP) in states that use HealthCare.gov (optional for other states), granting year-round enrollment in ACA-compliant health insurance if an applicant’s household income does not exceed 150% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and if the applicant is eligible for a premium tax credit (subsidy) that will cover the cost of the benchmark plan.

This SEP became available on the HealthCare.gov website (and enhanced direct enrollment entity websites) as of March 21, 2022.

Some but not all of the 18 state-based exchanges are currently offering this SEP. Several don’t need to, because they offer another type of free health insurance (Medicaid or a Basic Health Program) to enrollees with incomes up to 150% FPL or higher. See the note at bottom for details.

This newly instituted SEP also allows current enrollees with income below the 150% FPL threshold to switch into a Silver plan at any time. In fact, enrolling low-income people in Silver plans specifically is an express goal of the department of Health and Human Services, spelled out in its finalization of the rule establishing the SEP:

HHS proposed making this special enrollment period available to individuals based on household income level because enhanced financial assistance provided by the ARP for tax years 2021 and 2022 is such that many individuals with a household income no greater than 150 percent of the FPL have access to a silver plan with a zero dollar monthly premium.

If your income is below 150% FPL in particular, HHS wants you in a Silver plan:

… enrollees with a newly-enrolling dependent or other household member may not use the new monthly special enrollment period to change to a plan of a different metal level other than a silver-level QHP to enroll together with their newly-enrolling household member, but can stay in the same plan or change to a silver plan to enroll together with the newly-enrolling household member.

There is one downside to switching to a Silver plan during the plan year: any money you’ve already spent this year on medical care will not count toward your new deductible and out-of-pocket max. But the deductible, OOP max and copays or coinsurance are generally so much lower in Silver plans than in Bronze that this will rarely be a deterrent – unless you have already spent enough to have reached or nearly your current plan’s OOP max.

Why choose Bronze when Silver is free?

Some low-income Bronze plan enrollees may be aware of the much lower out-of-pocket costs generally required by a Silver plan, but still have chosen Bronze deliberately. In some cases, a desired insurer’s Silver plan (e.g., with a superior provider network) might be priced well above benchmark, while that insurer’s Bronze plan with the same provider network might be available free or at very low cost.

There is also a modest trend toward lower deductibles in Bronze plans: this year, 10% have $0 deductibles. But a Bronze plan’s much lower actuarial value – 60% vs. 94% for silver plans at incomes up to 150% FPL – means the higher out-of-pocket costs have to be paid in other ways – for example, in very high hospital copays and highest allowable out-of-pocket maximums.

In most cases, even if the Silver plan with desired provider network costs, say, $50/month while a  Bronze with the same network is available for free, the Silver plan is likely to be a better value. If you know enough to care enough about a plan’s provider network to forgo a different insurer’s free Silver plan, odds are that you’ll need enough care to make the Silver premium worth paying.  In the example above, you’d be accepting $600 in premiums to get a likely $5,000-7,000 improvement in the plan’s out-of-pocket maximum, and in most cases in its deductible as well.

Roughly 50,000 enrollees with income below 150% FPL chose Gold plans. At this income level, Silver plans are higher-value than Gold plans too. Deductibles for gold plans average $1,600, and out-of-pocket maximums are usually above $5,000, often much higher.

Bottom line: if your income is below the 150% FPL threshold (again: $19,140 for a single person, $32,580 for a family of four) and you are enrolled in a Bronze or Gold plan, strongly consider switching to Silver. The new SEP for low incomes makes switching easy.

SEP varies in state-based exchanges (SBEs)

Our prior post about the SEP for enrollees with income up to 150% FPL explains:

State-run exchanges (there are 18 as of the 2022 plan year) are not required to offer this SEP. But as of early 2022, several state-run exchanges (Colorado, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, California, and Rhode Island) had already debuted the new SEP.

Several other state-run exchanges have no need for this SEP, because they have other programs with year-round availability. This includes:

  • New York and Minnesota, both of which have Basic Health Programs that cover people with income up to 200% of FPL
  • Massachusetts, which offers Connector Care to people with income up to 300% of FPL (enrollment is open year-round to people who are newly eligible or who have not been covered under the program in the past)
  • DC, which offers Medicaid to adults with income up to 215% of the poverty level

Some of the remaining state-run exchanges may decide to allow this SEP as of 2022, and others may choose not to offer it at all. Some state-run exchanges may find that it’s too operationally challenging to make this SEP available for 2022, and may postpone it until 2023 (assuming that the ARP’s subsidy enhancements are extended).

State-run exchanges have flexibility in terms of how they implement this SEP.

As noted above, some may choose not to offer this SEP at all. For those that do offer it, proof of income might be required in order to trigger the SEP, or they may follow the federal government’s lead and allow the SEP eligibility to be based on the income attested by the consumer.

Andrew Sprung is a freelance writer who blogs about politics and healthcare policy at xpostfactoid. His articles about the Affordable Care Act have appeared in publications including The American Prospect, Health Affairs, The Atlantic, and The New Republic. He is the winner of the National Institute of Health Care Management’s 2016 Digital Media Award. He holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Rochester.

What will happen if ARP’s insurance subsidies expire?

Key takeaways


During the open enrollment period for 2022 health coverage, more than 14.5 million Americans enrolled in private health plans through the health insurance marketplaces nationwide. That was a record high, and a 21% increase over the number of people who enrolled the previous year.

The open enrollment period for 2022 was a month longer in most states, and the federal government spent significantly more money on outreach and enrollment assistance. But the primary factor driving the enrollment growth was affordability. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan (ARP) – which took effect last spring – self-purchased coverage is a lot more affordable for most people than it used to be.

Unfortunately, the improved affordability is currently set to expire at the end of 2022. Unless Congress takes action to extend the subsidy enhancements made by the ARP, the subsidy structure will revert to the basic Affordable Care Act subsidies as of January 1, 2023.

Health insurance would again become unaffordable for many

Although the Congressional Budget Office projected last year that the enhanced subsidies would increase marketplace enrollment by 1.7 million Americans in 2022, enrollment actually grew by 2.5 million people. Again, some of that was due to the longer open enrollment window and the additional federal funding for enrollment assistance and outreach. But the improved affordability of marketplace coverage is the primary reason for the enrollment growth.

If the ARP subsidy enhancements are not extended, nearly everyone with marketplace coverage will have to pay higher premiums next year. And the 2.5 million additional enrollees who signed up this year may no longer be able to afford their coverage in 2023.

The subsidy cliff would return, as subsidies would no longer be available to households that earn more than 400% of the federal poverty level. As we’ve explained here, some Americans with household income a little over 400% of the poverty level had to pay a quarter – or even half – of their annual income for health insurance before the ARP’s subsidy structure was implemented.

That’s untenable, obviously. (Before the ARP, people in that situation often went uninsured or relied on less expensive options that are not comprehensive coverage – such as a health care sharing ministry plan or short-term health insurance.)

If the ARP’s subsidy enhancements expire, coverage will also become less affordable for people with income below 400% of the poverty level. Although most of them will continue to be subsidy-eligible, their subsidy amounts will drop, leaving them with higher net premiums each month. This chart shows some examples of how the ARP increased subsidies; those subsidy boosts will disappear at the end of this year unless Congress passes legislation to extend them.

HHS: ARP is saving consumers $59 a month on premiums

Across the 10.3 million people who enrolled through the federally run exchange (HealthCare.gov, which is currently used in 33 states), the average net premium this year is $111/month. HHS noted that without the ARP’s subsidy enhancements, the average net premium would be $170/month, so the ARP is saving the average enrollee $59 per month in 2022. At ACA Signups, Charles Gaba has some alarming graphs showing just how much more people will be paying for their health insurance if the subsidy enhancements aren’t extended.

And across all 14.5 million exchange enrollees this year, 66% are enrolled in Silver or Gold plans, versus 63% in early 2021 (prior to the ARP). Some of the people who were previously enrolled in Bronze plans have shifted to more-robust Silver and Gold plans this year.

Although those percentages are still in the same ballpark, we also have to remember that enrollment is considerably higher this year. The result is that 2 million additional people have coverage under robust Silver and Gold plans this year (9.6 million, versus 7.6 million last year). This is a direct result of the additional affordability created by the ARP’s subsidy enhancements. People generally prefer the most robust coverage that they can realistically afford, and the ARP made it easier to afford better coverage.

It’s particularly important to point out that the ARP subsidies allow people with income up to 150% of the poverty level to enroll in the benchmark Silver plan for free (for 2022 coverage, 150% of the poverty level is $19,320 in annual income; for a family of four, it’s $39,750). For these enrollees, robust cost-sharing reductions make these Silver plans better than a Platinum plan, with very low out-of-pocket costs. Prior to the ARP, people in this income range had to pay premiums of up to about 4% of their income for the benchmark plan. And without the ARP’s subsidy enhancements, many of these people would be unable to afford the coverage they have this year.

The availability of free Silver plans for this population has proven to be especially important in the dozen states that have not expanded Medicaid, since people in those states are eligible for marketplace premium subsidies with income as low as 100% of the poverty level (in states that have expanded Medicaid, Medicaid is available to people with income up to 138% of the poverty level, resulting in a much smaller segment of low-income enrollees being subsidy-eligible). Although enrollment in marketplace plans grew by 21% nationwide in 2022, the most significant growth tended to be concentrated in the states that have not expanded Medicaid, where it grew by an average of 31%.

If Congress doesn’t take action to extend the ARP’s subsidies, all of these gains will be lost. Millions of people will lose their coverage or be forced to shift to less robust coverage, because their current coverage will no longer be affordable in 2023.

Special enrollment for low-income households would expire with ARP’s subsidies

It’s also worth noting that the new special enrollment period for people with income up to 150% of the poverty level would expire at the end of 2022 if the ARP’s subsidies are not extended. When HHS created this special enrollment period, they clarified that it will only remain in effect as long as people in that income range can enroll in the benchmark plan without paying any premiums.

Without the ARP’s subsidy enhancements, that would no longer be the case.

Will Congress extend the ARP’s subsidy structure?

Last fall, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, which called for a temporary extension of the ARP’s subsidy enhancements. Under that legislation, the larger and more widely available subsidies would have continued to be in place through 2025 (instead of just through 2022), and the legislation also called for a one-year extension of the ARP’s subsidy enhancements for people receiving unemployment compensation.

Unfortunately, the legislation stalled in the Senate, after being opposed by all 50 Republican Senators, as well as Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia. So the subsidy enhancements for Americans receiving unemployment compensation expired at the end of 2021, and the rest of the ARP’s subsidy enhancements are currently slated to expire at the end of 2022.

The Build Back Better Act is a massive piece of legislation, addressing a wide range of issues and costing more than $2 trillion. But Sen. Manchin supports the extension of the ARP’s subsidies, which means a smaller piece of legislation addressing just this issue would be likely to garner his support.

How will the ARP subsidy extension uncertainty affect 2023 premiums?

Technically, Congress could take action to preserve the current subsidy structure at any time between now and the end of 2022 (or even in 2023, with subsidy enhancements retroactive to the start of 2023, as was the case with ARP subsidy enhancements in 2021). But health insurers are already starting to sort out the details for 2023 plan designs and pricing, and subsidy structure plays a large role in that process.

If the ARP’s subsidies remain in place for 2023, enrollment will continue to be higher than it would otherwise be, and healthy people — who might otherwise forego coverage if it was less affordable — will stay in the insurance pool. Health insurance actuaries take all of this into consideration when determining whether to remain in (or enter) various markets, what plans to offer, and how much they have to charge in premiums in order to cover their costs.

Since the extension of the ARP’s subsidy enhancements is still up in the air, states and insurers will have to be flexible in terms of how they handle this issue over the coming weeks and months. The ARP was enacted on March 11 last year, so insurers knew by then what the subsidy parameters would look like for 2022. But we’re already a few weeks past that point this year, and there is no such clarity for 2023.

States can have insurers file two sets of rates for 2023, or file a single set of rates that explain whether they’re assuming the ARP subsidies will expire or be extended (Missouri is an example of a state taking this approach). Some states will tell insurers to simply base their rate filings on the current situation — ie, that the ARP subsidies will not exist in 2023 — and deal with potential revisions later on (Virginia is an example of a state that has instructed insurers to file rates based on the assumption that the ARP subsidies will expire at the end of 2023; this was clarified in a recent teleconference hosted by the Virginia Bureau of Insurance).

States and insurers have previously demonstrated the ability to turn on a dime, as we saw with the rate revisions that were implemented in many states in October 2017, after federal funding for cost-sharing reductions was eliminated at the eleventh hour. So if the ARP subsidies are extended mid-way through the rate filing/review process, insurers will be able to revise their rates accordingly, even at the last minute.

The sooner ARP’s subsidy structure is extended, the better

But for everyone involved, this process will be smoother if legislation to extend the ARP subsidies is enacted sooner rather than later. This would help consumers — particularly those with income a little over 400% of the poverty level — plan ahead for next year. It would help insurers nail down their rate proposals and coverage areas. And it would make the rate review process simpler for state insurance departments.

If you buy your own health insurance, you can reach out to your members of Congress about this, asking them to extend the subsidy enhancements that have likely made your coverage more affordable than it used to be.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

How the Build Back Better legislation might affect your coverage

Key takeaways

Just before Thanksgiving, the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act (HR5376) and sent it to the Senate. The version that the House approved was scaled down from the initial proposal, but it’s still a robust bill that would create jobs, protect the environment, help families meet their needs, and improve access to health care.

Lawmakers had initially hoped that the bill would be enacted before Christmas. But the situation has changed in December, with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin stating recently that he will not vote for the current Build Back Better legislation. The situation is still in flux, and it’s noteworthy that the nation’s largest coal miners union has asked Manchin to reconsider his position.

For the time being, we don’t know what might come of this. Manchin might reconsider, or the legislation might be changed to support his earlier requests, or it might be scrapped altogether and replaced with various piecemeal bills.

But for now, we wanted to explain how the House’s version of the Build Back Better Act would affect your health insurance in 2022 and future years. We’ll also clarify what you can already count on in 2022, even without the Build Back Better Act. And how should you handle the current open enrollment period, given that the legislation is still up in the air?

Let’s start with a summary of how the House’s version of the BBBA would affect people who buy their own health insurance (keeping in mind that we don’t know whether the Senate will pass any version of the BBBA, and if they do, what changes might be incorporated):

Law would extend larger and more widely available subsidies

The enhanced premium tax credit (subsidy) structure created by the American Rescue Plan (ARP) would remain in place through 2025, instead of ending after 2022. This would mean:

  • There would continue to be no “subsidy cliff” through 2025. Subsidies would be available to households earning more than 400% of the poverty level, as long as the cost of the benchmark plan would otherwise be more than 8.5% of household income.
  • Subsidies would continue to be larger than they were prior to the ARP. People with household income up to 150% of the poverty level would be able to enroll in the benchmark plan at no cost. And people with income above that level would continue to pay a smaller percentage of their income for the benchmark plan, relative to what they had to pay pre-ARP.

These enhanced subsidies have made coverage much more affordable in 2021, and the BBBA would extend them for another three years.

It’s also important to note that HHS finalized a new rule this year that allows year-round enrollment via HealthCare.gov for people whose income doesn’t exceed 150% of the poverty level. This rule remains in place for as long as people at that income level are eligible for $0 premium benchmark plans. Under the ARP, that would just be through 2022. But the BBBA would extend the availability of this special enrollment opportunity through 2025.

BBBA would include one-year extension of unemployment-related subsidies

The ARP’s subsidies related to unemployment compensation would be available in 2022, instead of ending after this year. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that about a million people will receive these enhanced subsidies, and that about half of them would otherwise be uninsured in 2022.

Under the ARP, if a person receives unemployment compensation at any point in 2021, any income above 133% of the poverty level is disregarded when they apply for a marketplace plan. That means they’re eligible for a $0 benchmark plan and full cost-sharing reductions (CSR).

The BBBA would set the income disregard threshold at 150% of FPL for a person who receives unemployment compensation in 2022. But the effect would be the same, as applicants at that income are eligible for $0 benchmark plans and full CSR. As noted above, there’s also a year-round enrollment opportunity for people whose income doesn’t exceed 150% of the poverty level (that’s available in all states that use HealthCare.gov; state-run marketplaces can choose whether or not to offer it).

As is the case under the ARP, the unemployment-related subsidies would be available for the whole year if the person receives unemployment compensation for at least one week of the year. But as is also the case under the ARP, the marketplace subsidies would not be available for any month that the person is eligible for Medicare or an employer-sponsored plan that’s considered affordable and provides minimum value.

Law would close Medicaid coverage gap for 2022-2025

In 11 states that have refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, there’s a coverage gap for people whose income is under the poverty level. As of 2019, there were more than 2.2 million people caught in this coverage gap (mostly in Texas, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina). They are ineligible for Medicaid and also ineligible for premium subsidies in the marketplace.

The BBBA would close the coverage gap for 2022 through 2025. The current rules (which only allow marketplace premium subsidies if an applicant’s income is at least 100% of the poverty level) would be changed to allow premium subsidies regardless of how low a person’s income is.

This would be applicable nationwide, but subsidies would continue to be unavailable if a person is eligible for Medicaid. So in most states, subsidies would continue to be available only for applicants with income above 138% of the poverty level, as Medicaid is available below that level in the 38 states that have expanded Medicaid under the ACA.

In 2022, people who would otherwise be in the coverage gap would be eligible for $0 benchmark plans and full cost-sharing reductions (CSR). In 2023 through 2025, they would continue to be eligible for $0 benchmark plans, and their cost-sharing reductions would become more robust. Instead of covering 94% of costs for an average standard population (which is currently the most robust level of CSR), their plans would cover 99% of a standard population’s costs.

The CBO projects that the BBBA’s subsidy enhancements would increase the number of people with subsidized marketplace coverage by about 3.6 million. Many of those individuals would otherwise be in the coverage gap and uninsured.

Nothing would change about Medicaid eligibility or subsidy eligibility in the states that have expanded Medicaid. But the BBBA would provide additional federal funding for Medicaid expansion in those states for 2023 through 2025. Currently, the federal government pays 90% of the cost of Medicaid expansion, and that would grow to 93% for those three years.

Build Back Better Act would improve insulin coverage

The BBBA would require individual and group health plans to cover certain insulins before the deductible is met, starting in 2023. Enrollees would pay no more than $35 for a 30-day supply of insulin (or 25% of the cost of the insulin, if that’s a smaller amount).

This requirement would apply to catastrophic plans as well as metal-level plans. And although HSA-qualified high-deductible health plans are often excluded from new coverage mandates, that would not be the case here. In 2019, the IRS implemented new rules that allow HSA-qualified plans to cover, on a pre-deductible basis, some types of care aimed at controlling chronic conditions; insulin is among them.

Law would reset affordability rules for employer-sponsored coverage

Under ACA rules, a person cannot get premium subsidies in the marketplace if they have access to an employer-sponsored plan that provides minimum value and is considered affordable.

Under current rules, an employer-sponsored plan would be considered affordable in 2022 if the employee’s cost for employee-only coverage isn’t more than 9.61% of the employee’s household income. Under the BBBA, this threshold would be reset to 8.5% of household income for 2022 through 2025.

For some employees, this would make marketplace subsidies newly available. And for others, employers might opt to cover more of their premium costs, making their employer-sponsored coverage more affordable. But some employers might simply stop offering employer-sponsored coverage altogether, despite the fact that they would potentially be subject to the ACA’s employer mandate penalty if they have 50 or more employees (if an employer stops offering coverage, the employees can enroll in a marketplace plan with income-based subsidies).

It’s important to note that the BBBA would not address the family glitch. So the family members of employees who have an offer of affordable self-only coverage would continue to be ineligible for marketplace subsidies if they have access to the employer-sponsored plan, regardless of the cost. But prominent health law scholars have opined that the Biden administration could fix the family glitch administratively, without legislation. There is some cause to hope that the administration may do so.

BBA would make changes to MAGI calculation

The ACA has its own definition of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), used to determine eligibility for premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions (a very similar version of MAGI is used to determine eligibility for CHIP, Medicaid expansion, and Medicaid for children and pregnant women).

The BBBA would make a couple of changes to the way MAGI is calculated when a tax dependent has income or the household receives a lump sum payment from Social Security:

  • Through 2026, the first $3,500 in income earned by dependents would not have to be added to the family’s household income.
  • From 2022 onward, lump sum Social Security payments attributable to prior years would not have to be included in a person’s MAGI. The median processing time for a Social Security disability appeal is well over a year, so it’s common for people to wait a long time and then suddenly receive several months of Social Security payments all at one time. This can sometimes result in them having to repay premium tax credits for the year in which they receive the lump sum. The BBBA would prevent that in future years.

What does this mean for the current open enrollment period?

Given that the legislation is still up in the air, here’s what you need to keep in mind when enrolling in coverage for 2022:

General subsidies

  • There is no set income cap for marketplace subsidies in 2022. That provision is already in place, and doesn’t depend on the BBBA. (Your eligibility for a subsidy does depend on your income, but that eligibility now extends above 400% of the poverty level in most places, depending on your age.)
  • The more robust subsidy structure that the ARP introduced this year will continue to be in effect in 2022, regardless of whether the BBBA is enacted.
  • Subsidies are much larger and more widely available than they were last fall. And most of the ARP’s subsidy enhancements were already slated to continue through 2022. This means most enrollees can sign up now and rest assured that their 2022 coverage options and subsidy amounts will not change if and when the BBBA is enacted.

Unemployment-related subsidies

  • If you received unemployment compensation in 2021 and got the ARP’s unemployment-related subsidies, you may find that your after-subsidy premium is currently slated to increase significantly for 2022, due to the expiration of the unemployment-based subsidies.
  • If you’re still going to be receiving unemployment compensation after the start of 2022, you might end up qualifying for another round of robust subsidies in 2022. But that will depend on the BBBA. For the time being, the application will just ask for your projected income, which will need to include the total amount that you expect to earn in 2022. That might result in a substantial subsidy or not, depending on your household’s specific details.
  • The fact that open enrollment continues through at least January 15 in most states can be used to your advantage. For now, you can enroll in the plan that best fits your budget based on the existing subsidy rules for 2022. (In some states, you still have time to sign up for coverage that starts January 1, although most states are now enrolling people in plans with February effective dates.) If the BBBA is enacted in early January, you would then have a chance to pick a different plan prior to the end of the open enrollment period. It would have a February effective date (or March, depending on the state) and your out-of-pocket costs would reset to $0 on the new plan. But for some people, this will be the opportunity to upgrade from a Bronze plan to a Silver plan, so it’s worth considering as an option if you know that you’ll still be receiving unemployment compensation after the start of 2022.
  • If the BBBA isn’t enacted by mid-January, you should still keep an eye on this. A different version of the bill, or smaller piecemeal versions, might be enacted later in 2022. If that happens and unemployment-based subsidies are included in the final legislation, you might become eligible for new subsidies at that point. That may or may not come with a special enrollment period to allow people receiving unemployment compensation to switch plans. For now, it’s all up in the air, but the situation could change in 2022.

Learn how you might avoid the coverage gap

If you have a low income, are in a state that hasn’t expanded Medicaid, and the marketplace is showing that you’re not eligible for any premium tax credits, you’ll want to read this article about ways to avoid the coverage gap.

Assuming you can’t get out of the coverage gap for the time being, you’ll want to keep a close eye on the BBBA. If it’s enacted with the same coverage gap provisions that the House approved, you may be eligible for full premium tax credits as of early 2022. And you’d have a chance to enroll in coverage at that point.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

The post How the Build Back Better legislation might affect your coverage appeared first on healthinsurance.org.

Four reasons to not wait until January to enroll in an ACA health plan

Reasons to enroll in an ACA health plan by December 15?

  1. If you’re currently uninsured, delaying your enrollment will mean no coverage in January.
  2. If you’re uninsured or enrolled in a non-marketplace plan, delayed enrollment might mean missing out on free money.
  3. If you’re auto-renewing your 2021 plan, you could by surprised on January 1.
  4. Out-of-pocket expenses under your 2021 plans won’t transfer in February and March.

Open enrollment for 2022 individual/family health coverage began on November 1. The enrollment window is longer this year, continuing until at least January 15 in nearly every state. (For now, Idaho still plans to end the open enrollment period on December 15.)

The longer open enrollment period does give people some extra wiggle room during the busy holiday season. But for most people, December 15 is still the soft deadline you’re going to want to keep in mind. In most states, that’s the last day you can enroll in coverage that will take effect January 1.

Which states have open enrollment dates past December 15 – but still have January 1 effective dates?

There are some exceptions, however. The following state-run exchanges are giving people extra time to sign up for a plan that takes effect January 1:

But in the rest of the country, you need to enroll by December 15 to have your plan start on January 1. And that’s important for several reasons.

1. Currently uninsured? Delaying your enrollment will mean no coverage in January.

If you’re not already enrolled in ACA-compliant coverage in 2021, the current open enrollment period is your chance to change that for 2022.

But if you wait until the last minute to enroll, you won’t have coverage in place when the new year begins. Instead, you’ll be waiting until February 1 — or March 1 – if you enroll at the last minute in a few states with longer enrollment windows.

2. Currently uninsured or enrolled in a non-marketplace plan? Delayed enrollment might mean missing out on free money.

If you considered marketplace coverage in the past and found it to be unaffordable, you might currently be uninsured or enrolled in a plan that isn’t regulated by the ACA. Or you might have opted to buy ACA-compliant coverage outside the exchange, if you weren’t eligible for premium tax credits (subsidies) the last time you looked.

But thanks to the American Rescue Plan, many people who weren’t eligible for subsidies in previous years will find that they are now. Those subsidies are only available if you’re enrolled in a marketplace/exchange plan, and the current open enrollment period is your chance to make the switch to a marketplace plan.

In addition to being more widely available, premium subsidies are also larger than they were last fall. People who didn’t enroll last year due to the cost may find that coverage now fits in their budget.

Four out of five people shopping for coverage in the 33 states that use the federally-run marketplace (HealthCare.gov) will find that they can get coverage for $10/month or less. And millions of uninsured Americans are eligible for premium-free coverage in the marketplace, but may not realize this.

Waiting until the last minute to enroll in coverage will mean that you leave all that money on the table for January. You can use our subsidy calculator to get an idea of how much your subsidy will be for 2022. Then, make sure you enroll by December 15 so that you’re eligible to claim the subsidy for all 12 months of the year.

3. Letting your plan auto-renew? You might be in for a surprise.

If you already have coverage through the marketplace in 2021 and are planning to just let it auto-renew for 2021, you might wake up on January 1 with coverage and a premium that aren’t what you expected.

Even if you’re 100% happy with the plan you have now, you owe it to yourself to spend at least a little time checking out the available options before December 15. The premium that your insurer charges is likely changing for 2022. And your subsidy amount might also be changing, especially if there are new insurers joining the marketplace in your area.

Your insurer might also be making changes to your benefits, provider network, or covered drug list — or even discontinuing the plan altogether and replacing it with a new one. In short, the plan and price you have on January 1 might be quite different from what you have now.

This is part of the reason HHS opted to extend the open enrollment period – in order to give people a chance for a “do-over” if their auto-renewed plan isn’t what they expected. In nearly every state, you’ll have until at least January 15 to pick a new plan. But that plan selection won’t be retroactive to January 1.

4. Out-of-pocket expenses won’t transfer in February or March.

What if you’re enrolled in a marketplace plan in 2021, let it auto-renew for 2022, and then decide after December 15 that you’d rather have a different plan? Thanks to the extended open enrollment period, you can do that, and your new plan will take effect in February (or potentially March, if you’re in one of the state-run exchanges with the latest enrollment deadlines).

But it’s important to understand that you’ll be starting over with a new plan in February or March. This means the out-of-pocket costs counted against your deductible and out-of-pocket maximum will reset to $0, even if you ended up with out-of-pocket expenses in January.

Out-of-pocket expenses reset to $0 on January 1 for all marketplace plans, so your auto-renewed policy will start over with a new deductible at that point. But if you need medical care in January (and have associated out-of-pocket costs) before your new plan takes effect in February, you’ll potentially have a higher out-of-pocket exposure for the whole year than you would have if you’d picked your new plan by December 15 and had it start January 1.

All of this is a reminder that while most enrollees have until at least mid-January to sign up for 2022 coverage, it’s in your best interest to get your plan selection sorted out by December 15.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

The post Four reasons to not wait until January to enroll in an ACA health plan appeared first on healthinsurance.org.

Think you’re not eligible for ACA subsidies? Think again.

Who should review their eligibility for 2022 health insurance subsidies?

  1. The uninsured, many of who will be eligible for free or very low-cost health coverage
  2. Consumers who purchased coverage that’s not ACA-compliant
  3. Consumers who bought ‘off-exchange’ health plans
  4. Consumers enrolled in on-exchange plans, but who haven’t provide income details to the exchange or haven’t reconsidered their options recently

For millions of Americans, the open enrollment period (OEP) to shop for 2022 ACA-compliant coverage will be unlike any of the previous eight OEPs. The reason? These consumers will – for the first time – be able to tap into the Affordable Care Act’s premium tax credits (more commonly referred to as health insurance subsidies).

Thanks to the American Rescue Plan, consumers who in previous years might have found themselves outside the eligible level for subsidies – or who may have found that subsidy amounts were so low as to not be enticing – are now among those eligible for premium tax credits. So if you haven’t shopped for health insurance lately, you might be surprised to see how affordable your health coverage options are this fall (starting November 1), and how many plan options are available in your area.

Millions have already tapped into the subsidies

Most people who currently have coverage through the health insurance exchanges have seen improved affordability this year thanks to the American Rescue Plan (ARP). That includes millions of people who were already enrolled in plans when the ARP was enacted last March, as well as millions of others who signed up during the special enrollment period that continued through mid-August in most states (and is still ongoing in some states).

But there are still millions of others who are either uninsured or have obtained coverage elsewhere. And there are also people who already had coverage in the exchange in 2021 but didn’t take the option to switch to a more robust plan after the ARP was implemented. If you’re in either of these categories, you don’t want to miss the open enrollment period in the fall of 2021.

The Build Back Better Act, which is still under consideration in Congress, would extend the ARP’s subsidies and ensure that health insurance stays affordable in 2023 and beyond. But even without any new legislative action, most of the ARP’s subsidy enhancements will remain in place for 2022.

That means there will continue to be no upper income limit for premium tax credit (subsidy) eligibility, and the percentage of income that people have to pay for the benchmark plan will continue to be lower than it was in prior years. The overall result is that subsidies are larger than they were in the past, and available to more people.

Who should make a point to review their subsidy eligibility?

So who needs to pay close attention this fall, during open enrollment? In reality, anyone who doesn’t have access to Medicare, Medicaid, or an employer-sponsored health plan – because even if you’re already enrolled and happy with the plan you have, auto-renewal is not in your best interest.

But there are several groups of people who really need to shop for coverage this fall. Let’s take a look at what each of these groups can expect, and why you shouldn’t let open enrollment pass you by if you’re in one of these categories:

1. The uninsured – eligible for low-cost or NO-cost coverage

The majority of uninsured Americans cite the cost of coverage as the reason they don’t have health insurance. Yet millions of those individuals are eligible for free or very low-cost health coverage but haven’t yet enrolled. This has been the case in prior years as well, but premium-free or very low-cost health plans are even more widely available as a result of the ARP.

If you’re uninsured because you don’t think health insurance is affordable, know that more than a third of the people who enrolled via HealthCare.gov during the COVID/ARP special enrollment period this year purchased plans for less than $10/month.

Even if you’ve checked in previous years and couldn’t afford the plans that were available, you’ll want to check again this fall, since the subsidy rules have changed since last year.

2. Consumers enrolled in non-ACA-compliant plans

There are millions of Americans who have purchased health coverage that isn’t compliant with the ACA. Most of these plans are either less robust than ACA-compliant plans, or use medical underwriting, or both. They include:

People purchase or keep these plans for a variety of reasons. But chief among them has long been the fact that ACA-compliant coverage was unaffordable – or was assumed to be unaffordable.

There are also people who prefer some of the benefits that some of these plans offer (the fellowship of being part of a health care sharing ministry, for instance, or the abundantly available primary care with a DPC membership). But by and large, the reason people choose coverage that isn’t ACA-compliant, or that isn’t even insurance at all, is because ACA-compliant coverage doesn’t fit in their budgets.

This has long included a few main groups of people: Those who earned too much to qualify for subsidies, those affected by the “family glitch,” and those who qualified for only minimal subsidy assistance and still felt that the coverage available in the exchange wasn’t affordable.

(Another group of people unable to afford coverage are those who earn less than the poverty level in 11 states that have refused to expand Medicaid and thus have a coverage gap. Some people in the coverage gap purchase non-ACA-compliant coverage, but this population is also likely to not have any coverage at all. If you or a loved one are in the coverage gap, we encourage you to read this article.)

The ARP has not fixed the family glitch or the coverage gap, although there are legislative and administrative solutions under consideration for each of these.

But the ARP has addressed the other two issues, and those provisions remain in place for 2022. The income cap for subsidy eligibility has been eliminated, which means that some applicants can qualify for subsidies with income far above 400% of the poverty level. And for those who were already eligible for subsidies, the subsidy amounts are larger than they used to be, making coverage more affordable.

So if you are enrolled in any sort of self-purchased health plan that isn’t compliant with the ACA, you owe it to yourself to check your on-exchange options this fall, during the open enrollment period. Keep in mind that you can do that through the exchange, through an enhanced direct enrollment entity, or with the assistance of a health insurance broker.

3. Buyers enrolled in off-exchange health plans

There are also people who have “off-exchange” ACA-compliant plans that they’ve purchased directly from an insurance company, without using the exchange. (Note that this is not the same thing as enrolling in an on-exchange plans through an enhanced direct enrollment entity, many of which are insurance companies).

There are a variety of reasons people have chosen to enroll in off-exchange health plans over the last several years. And for some of those enrollees, 2022 might be the year to switch to an on-exchange plan.

Since 2018, some people have opted for off-exchange plans if they weren’t eligible for premium subsidies and wanted to enroll in a Silver-level plan. This was a very rational choice, encouraged by state insurance commissioners and marketplaces alike. But if you’ve been buying off-exchange coverage in order to get a Silver plan with a lower price tag, the primary point to keep in mind for 2022 is that you might find that you’re now eligible for premium subsidies.

Just like the people described above, who have enrolled in various non-ACA-compliant plans in an effort to obtain affordable coverage, the elimination of the income limit for subsidy eligibility is a game changer for people who were buying off-exchange coverage to get a lower price on a Silver plan.

Some people have opted for off-exchange coverage because their preferred health insurer wasn’t participating in the exchange in their area. This might have been a deciding factor for an applicant who was only eligible for a very small subsidy — or no subsidy at all — and was willing to pay full price for an off-exchange plan from the insurer of their choice.

But 2022 is the fourth year in a row with increasing insurer participation in the exchanges, and some big-name insurers are joining or rejoining the exchanges in quite a few states. So if you haven’t checked your on-exchange options in a while, this fall is definitely the time to do so. You might be surprised to see how many options you have, and again, how affordable they are.

4. Consumers enrolled in on-exchange plans, but no income details on file and no recent coverage reconsiderations

If you’re already enrolled in an on-exchange plan and you had given the exchange a projection of your income for 2021, you probably saw your subsidy amount increase at some point this year.

But if the exchange didn’t have an income on file for you, they wouldn’t have been able to activate a subsidy on your behalf (on the HealthCare.gov platform, subsidy amounts were automatically updated in September for people who hadn’t updated their accounts by that point, but only if you had provided a projected income to the exchange when you enrolled in coverage for 2021). And even if your subsidy amount did get updated, you might have remained on the plan you had picked last fall, despite the option to pick a different one after the ARP was enacted.

The good news is that you’ll be able to claim your full premium tax credit, for the entirety of 2021, when you file your 2021 tax return (assuming you had on-exchange health coverage throughout the year). And during the open enrollment period for 2022 coverage, you can provide income information to the exchange so that a subsidy is paid on your behalf each month next year.

Reconsidering your plan choice during open enrollment might end up being beneficial as well. If you didn’t qualify for a subsidy in the past, or if you only qualified for a modest subsidy, you might have picked a Bronze plan or even a catastrophic plan, in an effort to keep your monthly premiums affordable.

But with the ARP in place, you might find that you can afford a more robust health plan. And if your income doesn’t exceed 250% of the poverty level (and especially if it doesn’t exceed 200% of the poverty level), pay close attention to the available Silver plans. The larger subsidies may make it possible for you to afford a Silver plan with built-in cost-sharing reductions that significantly reduce out-of-pocket costs.

One other point to keep in mind: If you are receiving a premium subsidy this year, be aware that it might change next year due to a new insurer entering the market in your area and offering lower-priced plans. Here’s more about how this works, and what to consider as you’re shopping for coverage this fall.

The takeaway point here? Even if you’ve been happy with your plan, you should check your options during open enrollment. This is not the year to let your plan auto-renew. Be sure you’ve provided the exchange with an updated income projection for 2022, and actively compare the plans that are available to you. It’s possible that a plan with better coverage or a broader provider network might be affordable to you for 2022, even if it was financially out of reach when you checked last fall.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

The post Think you’re not eligible for ACA subsidies? Think again. appeared first on healthinsurance.org.

Congress boosted ACA subsidies. An enrollment surge followed.

The American Rescue Plan, signed into law by President Biden on March 11 of this year, included major boosts to the affordability of health plans sold in the ACA marketplace for people of all incomes.

Effective through 2022 and likely to be made permanent by pending legislation, the ARP improvements to affordability were as follows:

  • A benchmark Silver plan (the second least expensive Silver plan) with strong cost sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies became free to enrollees with household income up to 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) and costs no more than 2% of income for enrollees with income up to 200% FPL. That’s a maximum of $43 per month for a single person with an income of $25,520.
  • The previous income cap on subsidy eligibility was removed, so that no one who lacks access to affordable coverage elsewhere (i.e., from an employer) has to pay more than 8.5% of income for a benchmark Silver plan (less at lower incomes). The eliminated cap was 400% FPL ($51,040 for an individual, $104,880 for a family of four), and some households with income well above that level now qualify for subsidies.
  • The percentage of income required to buy a benchmark Silver plan was reduced at all income levels.
  • Anyone who received any unemployment insurance income during 2021 was eligible for free high-CSR Silver coverage. (Note that the pending legislation calls for this subsidy enhancement to be extended by several years, but not necessarily made permanent.)
open enrollment 2021

Our 2022 Open Enrollment Guide: Everything you need to know to enroll in an affordable individual-market health plan.

Preceding and then coinciding with these major subsidy boosts, the Biden administration had opened an emergency Special Enrollment Period (SEP) running from February 15 through August 15 in the 36 states that use the federal ACA exchange, HealthCare.gov.

The SEP, implemented to help Americans get covered during the pandemic, functioned like a second open enrollment period: anyone who lacked access to affordable coverage from other sources (e.g., employers) could enroll in a marketplace plan. The 15 state-based exchanges also opened emergency SEPs, with somewhat different durations and conditions, summarized here.

ARP prompted an enrollment surge during the 2021 SEP

The enhanced subsidies were posted on HealthCare.gov on April 1, and in the state-run exchanges within a few weeks of that date. Existing enrollees were encouraged to update their information and get the new subsidies credited, and were allowed to switch plans if they chose.

Americans responded with a major surge in new enrollment and enrollment upgrades. From February 15 through August 15:

  • More than 2.8 million people enrolled in new health coverage. Of new enrollees, 91% qualified for premium subsidies.
  • Of new enrollees, 44% obtained coverage for less than $10 per month. Most of these enrollees (41% in HealthCare.gov states) received free coverage with the highest level of CSR. As a result, the median deductible fell from $750 in 2020 to $50 this year – meaning that half of enrollees obtained a plan with a deductible at or below that level (most of them in high-CSR Silver plans).
  • The average premium paid by new consumers during the SEP (Feb. 15 – Aug. 15) fell 30%, from $117 in 2020 to $81 in 2021.
  • Marketplace enrollment in August 2021, at 12.2 million, was 15% higher than in August 2020, the previous August high, and 22% above the pre-pandemic August high (see p. 14 here) recorded in 2016.
  • More than 200,000 new and existing enrollees qualified for free high-CSR Silver plans because they had received unemployment insurance income in 2021.

Savings were also dramatic for existing marketplace enrollees:

  • 8 million existing enrollees reduced the premiums on their existing plans or obtained new plans after ARP implementation.
  • Existing enrollees reduced their premiums by 50%, or by $67 per month, on average.

My premium went down how much?

To get a sense of the extent to which the ARP reduced enrollee costs (or encouraged people who might previously have considered coverage too expensive to enroll), consider these examples:

  • In November 2020, a 40-year-old in Miami with an income of $24,000 per year would have paid $115 per month for the least expensive available Silver plan, with a $1,500 deductible, and $119 per month for the second-cheapest Silver plan, with a $0 deductible. Thanks to the ARP, those plans would now cost this person $26 and $30 per month, respectively.
  • In November 2020, a pair of 60-year-olds in Dallas, Texas with an income of $70,000 – slightly over the income cap for premium subsidies, which the ARP eliminated – would have had to pay $1,669 per month for the lowest cost Gold plan, with a $2,300 deductible (Gold plans are cheaper than Silver Plans in Dallas), or $1,228 for the lowest cost Bronze plan, with an $8,550 deductible.
    Now, this couple can choose to pay $393 per month for the Gold plan (which includes free doctor visits and generic drug prescriptions, neither subject to the deductible), or consider two free Bronze plans with deductibles over $8,000, a $2/month Bronze plan with a $6,100 deductible, and other options. A BlueCross Silver plan available for $420 per month might also be in the mix, if, say, the provider network is preferable.

Which states saw the biggest gains in new enrollees?

The new enrollment surge – and the savings – was particularly strong in twelve states that had not enacted the ACA Medicaid expansion as of June 2021. Due to their failure to expand Medicaid, these states have a “coverage gap” for people who earn too little to qualify for marketplace coverage (less than 100% FPL, or $12,760 for an individual in 2021) but mostly also don’t qualify for Medicaid because of their states’ restrictive Medicaid eligibility. (That excludes Wisconsin, which has not enacted the ACA expansion but grants Medicaid eligibility to adults with income up to 100% FPL. Oklahoma, which expanded Medicaid beginning in July 2021, and Missouri, which will begin covering new Medicaid expansion enrollees in October, are included.)

These twelve states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming – accounted for 1.55 million new enrollees during the SEP, or 55% of all new enrollees nationally.

In the non-expansion states, eligibility for marketplace subsidies begins at 100% FPL, as opposed to 138% FPL in Medicaid expansion states, where adults below that threshold qualify for Medicaid. Accordingly, in these states, about half of enrollees qualified for free high-CSR coverage, reporting incomes between 100% and 150% FPL. In these states, enrollment as of August 2021 (6.0 million) was 44% above enrollment in August 2019, the last pre-pandemic year (4.2 million).

More than 2 million people in non-expansion states are estimated to be stuck in the coverage gap – ineligible both for Medicaid and for ACA premium subsidies. For people in these states, reporting an income just below or just above 100% FPL ($12,760 for an individual, $26,200 for a family of four) is the difference between receiving no help at all and having access to free Silver coverage with high CSR and low out-of-pocket costs.

It’s important to keep in mind that the application for marketplace coverage requires an income estimate – and many people, unaware of the minimum income requirement, underestimate their potential income. For tips on how to make sure you leave no stone unturned in seeking help paying for coverage, see this post.

What do these numbers mean for 2022 open enrollment?

As open enrollment for 2022 approaches (it begins on November 1), the subsidies enhanced by the ARP remain in place for 2022. As Congress hashes out new investments for coming years in a pending budget bill, the pressure is intense to keep this good thing going in future years.

As of now, with the sad exception of those stuck in the coverage gap in states that still refuse to enact the ACA Medicaid expansion, any citizen or legally present noncitizen who lacks access to other forms of affordable coverage should be able to find it in the marketplace. If you need coverage, make sure to check out your options on HealthCare.gov or your state exchange.

The word that ACA marketplace plans are more affordable than ever has not yet reached many of the people who need coverage and qualify for premium subsidies. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated in May that nearly 11 million uninsured people were subsidy-eligible. ACA enrollment assisters consistently report that many people who are eligible for coverage have no idea what’s on offer.

The Biden administration is trying to change that: after years of radical cuts in federal funds for enrollment assistance, the administration this year has allocated a record $80 million to fund nonprofit enrollment “navigator” groups charged with outreach as well as enrollment assistance. The Urban Institute forecast that if the ARP subsidies are made permanent – solidifying the perception that truly affordable coverage is here to stay — enrollment would increase by more than 5 million in 2022.

The emergency SEP provided a jump start, boosting coverage as of August more than 1.5 million above the August 2020 level. In a fraught and complex legislative session, Congress will most likely – though not certainly – do its part and extend the subsidies beyond 2022. There is certainly room for enrollment to run higher in the open enrollment season that begins on November 1.

Andrew Sprung is a freelance writer who blogs about politics and healthcare policy at xpostfactoid. His articles about the Affordable Care Act have appeared in publications including The American Prospect, Health Affairs, The Atlantic, and The New Republic. He is the winner of the National Institute of Health Care Management’s 2016 Digital Media Award. He holds a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Rochester.

The post Congress boosted ACA subsidies. An enrollment surge followed. appeared first on healthinsurance.org.

Subsidy availability drives consumers to shop for health insurance

A major premise of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was that Americans who need to buy their own health coverage in the individual market should be able to obtain coverage – regardless of their medical history – and that the monthly premiums should be affordable.

The rules to facilitate those goals have been in place for several years now. And although they have worked quite well for some Americans, there have been others for whom ACA-compliant health coverage was still unaffordable.

But the American Rescue Plan, enacted earlier this year, has boosted the ACA’s subsidies, making truly affordable coverage much more available than it used to be.

The numbers speak for themselves: Exchange enrollment has likely reached a record high of nearly 13 million people in 2021, after more than 2.5 million people enrolled during the COVID/American Rescue Plan enrollment window, which ended this month in most states.

How much are consumers saving on health insurance premiums?

And the amount that people are paying for their coverage and care is quite a bit lower than it was before the APR’s subsidy enhancements. We can see this across the states that use the federally run exchange (HealthCare.gov), as well as the states that run their own exchanges:

  • Among the people who enrolled during the recent special enrollment period in the 36 states that use HealthCare.gov, average after-subsidy premiums were 27% lower than the amounts people were paying pre-ARP.
  • Among HealthCare.gov enrollees who signed up during the special enrollment period or who updated their enrollments to claim the enhanced subsidies, 35% are now paying less than $10/month for their coverage.
  • Average deductibles for new HealthCare.gov enrollees were 90% lower than pre-ARP deductibles, likely driven in large part by the number of people who were able to enroll in free or low-cost Silver plans with built-in cost-sharing reductions. (This includes people receiving unemployment compensation in 2021, as well as people who aren’t eligible for Medicaid and whose household income is between 100% and 150% of the federal poverty level.)
  • The state-run exchange in Washington reported that 78% of their enrollees are now receiving premium subsidies, versus 61% before the ARP was implemented. And consumers with income above 400% of the poverty level, who were not eligible for subsidies pre-ARP, are now paying an average of $200 less in premiums each month. Washington’s exchange also noted that 15% of their enrollees are now paying $1/month or less for their coverage, versus only 5% whose premiums were that low pre-ARP.
  • The state-run exchange in California reported that consumers with household incomes between 400% and 600% of the poverty level are saving an average of almost $800/month on their premiums. (That’s an individual with income up to about $76,000, or a household of four with an income up to about $157,000.)
  • The state-run exchange in Nevada reported that people who enrolled or updated their account since the ARP was implemented are paying an average of $154/month in after-subsidy premiums, whereas the after after-subsidy premium at the end of last winter’s open enrollment period (pre-ARP) was $232/month.
  • Maryland’s state-run exchange reported a 12% increase in the number of enrollees receiving subsidies; more than 80% of Maryland’s current exchange enrollees are subsidy-eligible.

These examples highlight the improved affordability that the ARP has brought to the health insurance marketplaces. People who were already eligible for subsidies are now eligible for larger subsidies. And many of the people who were previously ineligible for subsidies — but potentially facing very unaffordable health insurance premiums — are benefiting from the ARP’s elimination of the income cap for subsidy eligibility.

How long will the ARP’s subsidy boost last?

Although the ARP’s subsidies for people receiving unemployment compensation in 2021 are only available until the end of this year, the rest of the ARP’s premium subsidy enhancements will continue to be available throughout 2022 — and perhaps longer, if Congress extends them.

This means that the affordability gains we’ve seen this year will be available during the upcoming open enrollment period, when people are comparing their plan options for 2022.

Robust ACA-compliant coverage will continue to be a more realistic option for more people, reducing the need for alternative coverage options such as short-term plans, fixed indemnity plans, and health care sharing ministry plans.

Even catastrophic plans – which are ACA-compliant but not compatible with premium subsidies – are likely to see reduced enrollment over the next year, since more people are eligible for enhanced subsidies that make metal-level plans more affordable.

Can everyone find affordable health insurance now?

Unfortunately, not yet. There are still affordability challenges facing some Americans who need to obtain their own health coverage. That includes more than two million people caught in the “coverage gap” in 11 states that have refused to expand eligibility for Medicaid, as well as about 5 million people affected by the ACA’s “family glitch.”

There are strategies for avoiding the coverage gap if you’re in a state that hasn’t expanded Medicaid, and Congressional lawmakers are also considering the possibility of a federally-run health program to cover people in the coverage gap.

Families affected by the family glitch have access to an employer-sponsored plan that’s affordable for the employee but not for the whole family – and yet the family is also ineligible for subsidies in the marketplace/exchange. (It’s possible that the Biden administration could tackle this issue administratively in future rulemaking.)

Have ARP’s subsidy boosts been successful?

With the exception of those two obstacles, the ARP has succeeded in making affordable health coverage a more realistic option for most Americans who need to obtain their own health coverage. We can see success in the record-high exchange enrollment, the increased percentage of enrollees who are subsidy-eligible, and the reduction in after-subsidy premiums that people are paying.

If you’re currently uninsured or covered by a non-ACA-compliant plan (including a grandfathered or grandmothered plan), it’s in your best interest to take a moment to see what your options are in the ACA-compliant market. Open enrollment for 2022 coverage starts in just two months, but you may also find that you can still enroll in a plan for the rest of 2021 if you live in a state where a COVID/American Rescue Plan enrollment window is ongoing, or if you’ve experienced a qualifying event recently (examples include loss of employer-sponsored insurance, marriage, or the birth or adoption of a child).

Even if you shopped just last winter, during open enrollment for 2021 plans, you might be surprised at the difference between the premiums you would have paid then and now. The ARP wasn’t yet in effect during the last open enrollment period, so if you weren’t eligible for a subsidy last time you looked, or if the plans still seemed too expensive even with a subsidy, you’ll want to check again this fall.

The subsidies for 2022 will continue to be larger and more widely available than they’ve been in the past, and you owe it to yourself to see what’s available in your area.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

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The COVID SEP ended in most states. The ARP is still making premiums more affordable.

Although August 15 marked the end of a one-time COVID-related special enrollment period (SEP) for marketplace health insurance in most states, the enhanced subsidies that enticed millions of consumers are still available for many individual-market buyers (as noted below, the SEP is ongoing in some states).

The American Rescue Plan’s enhancements to the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance subsidies will continue long after the end of the COVID SEP. That means that when you do have an opportunity to buy coverage again – either through open enrollment or due to a personal qualifying life event – you’ll likely find individual health insurance much less expensive than you might have expected.

The ARP’s affordability provisions are still helping with premiums

As we’ve noted over the past few months, the American Rescue Plan included numerous provisions that make ACA-compliant plans more affordable than ever. The additional health insurance subsidy enhancements delivered by the ARP include:

All of those benefits continue to be available. The additional subsidies based on unemployment compensation continue through the end of 2021, while the other subsidy enhancements will be available through the end of 2022 (and possibly longer, if Congress extends them).

How popular are the ARP’s subsidy enhancements?

HHS reported last week that more than 2.5 million people had already enrolled in coverage during the COVID-related special enrollment period, and that another 2.6 million existing marketplace enrollees had activated their ARP subsidies.

Among all of the new enrollees, average after-subsidy premiums were just $85/month, as opposed to $117/month before the ARP’s subsidies became available. And across all of the new and renewing enrollees, about 35% had obtained coverage with after-subsidy premiums of less than $10/month.

That illustrates how substantial premium subsidies have become under the ARP. And again, nothing has changed about those subsidies: the special enrollment window has ended in most states, but the subsidies are still available if you’re eligible to enroll for the remainder of 2021 — and again during open enrollment for 2022, which starts November 1.

So if you’re in a state where enrollment is still open, or if you’re eligible for an individual special enrollment period in any state, it’s certainly in your best interest to see what plan options are available to you.

Enrolling as soon as you’re eligible will mean that you’re able to start taking advantage of the ARP’s subsidies right away, rather than having to wait for open enrollment and coverage that starts in 2022.

States where enrollment continues

Although the COVID SEP ended on August 15 in the states that use HealthCare.gov – and some of the states that run their own exchanges – enrollment is still actually ongoing in several states:

Enrollment if you have a qualifying life event

Not in one of those states? Special enrollment periods are available to individuals who experience a wide range of “life changes.” The most common trigger for a personal SEP is a loss of other coverage — usually job-based coverage.

(Note that there’s usually only a 60-day window to enroll in a new plan after losing other coverage. But HealthCare.gov is making an exception for people who lost their coverage as long ago as January 2020, if they missed their enrollment deadline because they were “impacted by the COVID-19 emergency.” People who need to utilize this flexibility have to call the marketplace directly to qualify for a special enrollment period on a case-by-case basis.)

In addition to a loss of coverage, there are also other situations in which you’ll qualify for a SEP. They include events such as the birth or adoption of a child, marriage (as long as at least one spouse already had minimum essential coverage), or even your grandmothered or grandfathered plan coming up for renewal.

More opportunities to enroll in ACA-compliant coverage

In addition to the states with ongoing COVID-related enrollment periods and the individual SEPs triggered by qualifying life events, there are other circumstances under which you might still be eligible to enroll in affordable health coverage:

Mark your calendar for 2022 open enrollment

If you don’t have an enrollment period now, be sure to mark your calendar for the start of open enrollment on November 1. That’s when you’ll be able to sign up for health coverage that will take effect in January, with coverage for essential health benefits and pre-existing conditions. During open enrollment, your medical history won’t matter, and neither will your coverage history.

And if you’re already enrolled in an ACA-compliant plan – or soon will be – you’ll still want to pay attention to open enrollment this fall. There are new insurers joining the marketplaces in many areas, which might have an unexpected effect on your premium subsidy. And even if you’re happy with the plan you have now, you might find that a different plan works better for the coming year.

Fortunately, the ARP’s subsidy enhancements will continue to be available for 2022. So if you’re eligible for subsidies – and most people are – your coverage for next year is likely to be quite affordable.

Louise Norris is an individual health insurance broker who has been writing about health insurance and health reform since 2006. She has written dozens of opinions and educational pieces about the Affordable Care Act for healthinsurance.org. Her state health exchange updates are regularly cited by media who cover health reform and by other health insurance experts.

The post The COVID SEP ended in most states. The ARP is still making premiums more affordable. appeared first on healthinsurance.org.

 

Maddox Insurance Agency

Insurance Agency in Memphis, Tennessee

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2151 Courtland Place | Memphis, TN 38104

Licensed in Tennessee, Mississippi & Arkansas

Contact

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