Insurance: Navigating the Affordable Care Act

How will the Affordable Care Act affect you? asked Tami Luhby in CNN.com. For the uninsured, the impact will depend largely on who you are and how much money you make. The Obama administration last week “released a first look” at premiums in the 36 insurance exchanges being launched this week. For most categories, the premiums came in lower than expected, but in general, “premiums will rise for young adults, especially men.” The cheapest plan for a 27-year-old man in Indianapolis, for instance, will cost $204 a month, much more than the $52.50 he could get a policy for today. But the Obamacare policy is available even to those with pre-existing conditions, and has broader coverage and much lower deductibles. In addition, the “sticker prices on the Obama-care plans are not what most young adults will actually pay.” Any single person earning less than $46,000, for instance, qualifies for a federal subsidy.

If you’re an older American on Medicare, Obamacare does not directly apply to you, said Mark Miller in Reuters.com. In fact, “it is illegal for insurers to sell an exchange policy to anyone on Medicare,” so just shop for your prescription-drug and Medicare Advantage plan as usual. But the new law does bring you real advantages, such as “shrinking the catastrophic-level coverage gap—known as the ‘donut hole’—and adding a free annual preventative checkup.”

Even workers insured through their employers should pay attention, said Ann Carrns in NYTimes.com. “With so much in flux, it’s wise to carefully review the options your employer is offering for next year.” Companies will now be required to offer insurance to workers’ children—though costs could rise—and some are shedding coverage for employed spouses. High-deductible plans are also gaining popularity, and some companies may start offering them exclusively. More companies are requiring health screenings to influence employee behavior, or offering incentives to improve their habits. More and more employees are going to have to “do the math.”

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If you’re tempted to ignore Obamacare’s individual mandate altogether, get ready to pay, said Philip Moeller in USNews.com. “Failure to be insured can trigger a penalty fee of $95 per adult and $47.50 per child in 2014.” Even if you have individual coverage, “you can still face penalties” on dependent children who aren’t insured, and those charges will rise steeply in coming years. What’s still not clear is “how aggressive the government will be in collecting penalties from individuals.”