What the Affordable Care Act means for most Americans older
If you are 65 or older and on Medicare, you can keep your plan.
basic structure of Medicare has not changed, even if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) makes some improvements significant benefits.
If you are too young for Medicare and have no access to health insurance through an employer, you must shop in the insurance markets of the ACA, or exchanges, where plans offer new options and important protections.
older people often struggle to find affordable individual insurance policies or can not get coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
Starting next year, insurers can not turn you down because of a preexisting condition, and the law sets a floor for the political benefits must provide
Finally, premiums will be affordable, especially if you are eligible for grants and mobile-scale tax credit law.
If you are on Medicare
This is the most important thing to understand if you are already on Insurance disease: no big changes are required for 2014 .
If you are enrolled in Medicare Part A (hospital), you will need to register in trade to meet all insurance coverage mandates of the ACA.
Beware of scammers trapping the elderly in identity fraud schemes, saying they need to re-enroll in Medicare or sign up for their "Obamacare Card" (no such thing exists).
If you use compensation -service traditional Medicare with add-ons such as prescription drug or Medigap (Medicare supplement insurance) plans, you can stick with those plans.
When using Advantage all-in-one Medicare did not. changed, either
ACA reforms to Medicare
ACA made significant improvements to Medicare, including the reduction of the gap catastrophic coverage level - known as the "donut hole" - and adding a free annual preventive check-up.
The donut hole is the gap in coverage of prescription drugs (Part D) that affects older people with significant drug needs.
It begins when combined spending by enrollee and its insurance provider reaches a certain dollar amount.
hole gradually closes under the ACA, and will be completely closed in 2020.
in 2014, the gap will start spending when combined with the patient and the insurer reached $ 2,850, and will end when spending reaches $ 4,550.
As in 2013, there will be a 52.5% discount on the combined coverage for brand name drugs from manufacturers reductions and reductions in government.
discount for generic drugs during the donut hole will increase by 21 percent to 28 percent.
reform prescription is producing substantial savings for seniors.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently that 2.8 million seniors who entered the donut hole coverage gap saved an average of $ 834 per beneficiary over the first nine months of 2013, compared to savings of $ 657 in the same period last year.
Next year marks the third year that the premium for Part B (outpatient services) will be flat or down
Part B premium for the following year is 104 , $ 0 -. unchanged from 2013, below its peak of $ 115.40 in 2010. Part B deductible is also unchanged at $ 147.
shopping health insurance market
Sign up for coverage using the market in your state.
Remember that you may be eligible for grants based on your income, but they are only available if you shop official exchange your state. . Find your local market here or call 800-318-2596
You will be able to choose from four levels of plans: Bronze (lowest premiums), Silver, Gold and Platinum (higher premiums) .
plans with higher premiums have lower out-of-pocket costs.
bronze plans, on average, will cover 60% of costs enlisted, with the rest covered by deductibles and coinsurance. gold and platinum plans will cover 80% and 0% of the costs, respectively.
The insurance companies are allowed to set premiums up to three times higher for candidates over 50 years due to the increased use of health care these candidates.
But for many, the total cost of premiums will be held by grants.
a tax credit on advanced premium is a type of subsidy available to families with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty defined guide.
400%, families are not required to spend more than 9.5% of income on premiums.
The next year, grants are available for people with annual incomes between $ 11,40 and $ 45,960 and from $ 23,550 to $ 94,0 for a family of four.
The definition of income used here is modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, which includes salaries, wages, foreign income, interest, dividends, and social security benefits.
Although these numbers may not seem very high, they will apply to many sub-65 retirees, who, after all, do not have high levels of ordinary income because they do not work.
The Financial Samurai blog offers a useful set of graphs showing the costs of insurance premiums for different sizes of households and incomes for money plans.
retiree health coverage
Some retirees receive health benefits from their former employers, as a supply of prescription drugs
it is relatively rare. - Only 7 percent of private sector employers offered a benefit for early retirees in 2010 and 6 percent have available to eligible Medicare retirees, according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
retiree health benefits have been for years that employers looking to shed costs and the Affordable Care Act gives employers reason to go back further.
A recent survey conducted by Aon Hewitt, the company benefits consultancy, found that many employers are considering relocating retirees in the new exchanges of Medicare, or Medicare Part D in the case of pensioners aged over 65
impact on retirees likely will vary. Retirees who have enjoyed particularly robust policies may find that their coverage is not as good
In other cases, the coverage shall not be diminished
Photo credit :. . Jackie Popp via photopin cc
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