ObamaCare - Personal Health Insurance Plan Renewal Dates (December)

I wish I had an answer for you.

You aren't the only one suffering ACA blues and I have to disagree with Julie S. Everyone is happy? Nope! Yes, we can keep our current health insurance for a year BUT it just skyrocketed over $1000/month and our deductible is about to change to $20K/year per family member. We have had 4 different deadlines since September and none of them made any sense. Our insurance liason in my husband's HR department said our household income is too high. If our income were 70% lower, our health insurance would be more affordable, or at least comparable to what we paid before ACA launched.

Who in the world would be happy to pay over $1000 a month for coverage with a $60K deductible? That is INSANE.

So much for socialized healthcare in a free market country.

Our insurance company offered to renew our policy at last year's rates with a renewal date of Dec 1 (our regular policy renews in June). It seemed like an attempt to evade the ACA and we elected against it. I am pretty sure the insurance company was not offering last year's rates out of the goodness of their hearts. They are expecting cost savings and we will see what our renewals will cost next June. Our policy covers maternity so not an issue - although none of my employees has ever become pregnant :)

ETA - it's insurance. We ALWAYS buy for things we will never need. I am also subsidizing cancer care for the smokers and trauma care for the motorcycle riders and infectious disease care for the world travelers. Why should maternity care be treated any differently?

I am thinking you don't want to switch plans now to a maternity covered plan because it is more expensive and you don't want to pay for coverage although you will use it.

I think it really stinks that I will be forced into a plan I don't need (or want) since I already paid for having my babies, so I can subsidize all pregnancies in the future.

Maybe I will start drinking so I can at least use the addiction counseling services I will also be forced to buy😉

EDIT - during my child bearing years I simply made sure I had maternity coverage all the time.

I'm confused...do you have the same insurance as the employees but you pay for it yourself? You started it 1 July 2013. And your contract rate was for one calendar year - July 2014...or is this month-to-month?

You need to call the insurance company. It sounds like all they are doing is asking you to decide NOW if you are going to continue on the same plan. Ask them if you can renew no later than 30 June 2014...

You can complain to your state insurance regulator and let them know they are demanding you update before your coverage is over...

People voted for "free stuff" - and companies are minimizing the impact...so who knows what's going on....why not ask the 5Million people who have lost coverage....

My issue with all of this is the law that was passed is not the law we are working with. So I would not be so pissed at the insurance carriers because I don't think they have a clue as to what they are to do and not do. Its a mess.

I am trying to figure out as an employer what our company needs to do. At this point, I don't think we have to do anything.

I believe the dates you are referring to are the dates that a person needs to make their decision. Go on the ACA or stay with employer insurance.

I guess you could go on the website and see what you need to do, if you can get on.

If its mandatory in 2014 you are going to start paying for it because this would go towards next year. A lot of this bill does not make sense to me.

Oh geez, socialized would mean we didn't have to deal with the insurance companies AT ALL. Which in my opinion is how it should be.

I find it funny how so many people will rush to the defense of a corporation they've been paying thousands of dollars to annually for their entire lives in order to protect themselves from calamity, just in case. Trust me, as you've illustrated the insurance companies don't care about you except as you pertain to their bottom line and will do whatever they can to hang on to every penny, including not paying for your medical care when you need it.

We signed up for insurance through covered CA with the help of my broker. It took about 15 minutes, we'll have better insurance then ever before and pay a bit less then we were paying. Call a broker to help you figure it all out, that's what they are there for.

I don't actually understand your question but the December 1st is to protect as many people from losing their insurance for another year. You just happen to be the one person in America who doesn't have maternity coverage and wants it. Everyone else is very happy they can keep their insurance a year longer.

Ally it is still better than skyrocketing 2,000 dollars and no one will take it, right? I have to say it is pretty sad that keeping your old insurance is still better than the new stuff.

I am amazed how many doctors are refusing to take Obamacare.

Okay, your main point/question wasn't there when I answered. Obamacare will not allow you in exchanges if you have employer sponsored insurance, there is nothing restricting someone from private insurance from going into the exchange.

You need to find out if you didn't act before December 1st you are locked in for a year, a contract is a contract. If you are not locked in look at the exchanges. Don't cancel your current plan because those bugs are still not worked out. The insurance you have is better than no insurance at all. Once you see what is offered make a decision.

It appears that the posts telling you that you are scamming the system must have flamed you and have been pulled. I can't for the life of me see why anyone would think you are trying to pull ANYTHING. Geez is right...

I don't know the answer to your question. I do hope you can find someone who is actually knowledgeable and can walk you through this, though.

Do you have insurance with your employer or did you buy it on your own. If it is thru employer, your hands are tied. If not you can go they exchange but your docs will be limited. Or, you can do what I did for my daughter, go directly to insurance company. Aftee 19 years, her wonderful,policy was cancelled. I did all her legwork since she trains horses, teaches riding and manages farms. She could not take the time off. If you buy directly from I surance company, it must include maternity. Hope this helps. You can PM me if you have questions.

I feel your pain. When I had my babies I did not have maternity coverage. NYPD only gave you $150 towards everything. For my fourth baby, they finally included maternity. I did not want to leave hospital. Lol.

Your WPS would have had to offer maternity coverage immediately in 2014, except the government recently gave companies another year to comply. So you got screwed over there.

All new policies must have it, so anything new you choose will cover maternity from day 1.