The news of late stinks!

Even those not involved directly with selling health insurance cannot escape hearing about and seeing the problems with the debut of Obamacare. It is a perfect demonstration of why government should not be trusted with our health care.

People with common sense and reality-based principles understand that government programs are by definition political. Politicians and bureaucrats are not personally accountable for failure, as in the private sector, so failure is acceptable to them. Thus we get cost overruns, fraud and poor service.

Political consideration number one in the launch of Obamacare was the 2012 presidential election. Defenders of the incumbent did not want voters to know there would be a huge jump in the price of insurance for most people not being subsidized. They didn’t want supporters or critics to know about the rectal exam that would be required by the exchange websites. They didn’t want the masses to know about the four, five and up to eight thousand dollar deductibles. They didn’t want people to learn of the limited (skinny) networks that may not include THEIR hospital, doctor or pediatrician. They knew that revealing those details too early would tip voters toward the challenger who promised to stop it.

Federal agencies sat on a pile of major health, environmental, and financial regulations that lobbyists, congressional staffers, and former administration officials later admitted were being held back to avoid providing ammunition to the critics.

The explosion of federal regulations was already crushing our economy and disgusting citizens who care about freedom. So before the election, Nanny did a slow-mo partial shutdown, if you will, throwing every Obamacare deadline years behind schedule. And yet nobody accepts any blame for their actions

When you are never blamed for failure, failure is acceptable. All that matters is political advantage. The worse your performance, the more important politics becomes. 

It is now looking like the system is so broken that only a few thousand people have been able to sign up.  At this rate, it will take 20 years to implement.  Experts are saying it will take many months to fix, way after the deadline for penalties for not signing up.

Another political consideration: Voters would freak out when they logged on and discovered that being affordable was not a real goal of ObamaCare.  Instead, voters would discover that the law had devised a system of redistributing bad luck, and in this case, the bad luck was going to fall on the young, people on Medicare Advantage, people working in small business, union workers, and the middle class.  The good luck was going to fall on a small slice of supporters in a narrow income bracket, plus people in ill health.

And like they say, elections have consequences. No matter what your profession, butcher, baker, candlestick maker; politics is your business.

It's not like a box of chocolates

Buying health insurance inside the health insurance exchange (HIX) is NOT like ordering a box of chocolates online.

Already there are people getting very frustrated with the system; web servers crashing, customer service phones keeping you on hold for 30 minutes and then unceremoniously dropping the call. Keep in mind, the website isn’t going to run out of health insurance policies. There are plenty enough to go around. And there is no glory in saying “I got mine the first week!” You should make your decision before Christmas, though. December 23^rd is the cutoff for a January 1^st effective date.

You may want to have this information with you when you sit down at your computer to explore the Washington Health Plan Finder website. Don’t log onto the site until you have plenty of time to go through the process. It is going to take you some time just to create an account. The good thing is that once you have created an account you can leave and come back later to pick up where you left off.

Remember to dance with the fellow who brought you! When you get into the website www.wahealthplanfinder.org look for the tab to select an agent/broker and find my name, RICHARD EK

Buying Health Insurance Inside the Exchange (HIX)

Premium tax credits are available for people with household incomes no more than 4 times the Federal Poverty Level. Obtaining a tax credit (subsidy) is probably the only reason to buy health insurance inside the HIX. If household income exceeds 4 times the FPL it makes sense to buy outside the HIX.

How Do the Federal Poverty Levels Work?

Federal Poverty Guidelines depend on the total number of persons in the household. For healthcare purposes the same figures are used in the 48 contiguous states and in the District of Columbia, while higher values (reflecting higher living expenses) apply to Hawaii and Alaska. The 100% column shows the federal poverty guideline for each family size, and the percentage columns that follow represent income levels that are commonly used to determine health care costs for health programs like the Affordable Care Act.

2013 Federal Poverty Guidelines for 48 Contiguous States and DC

Federal Poverty Guidelines Used to Calculate Premiums, Cost-Assistance and Taxes in 2013 - 2014:

Household Size	100%	133%	138%	150%	200%	300%	400%
1	$11,490	$15,282	$15,856	$17,235	$22,980	$34,470	$45,960
2	15,510	20,628	$21,404	23,265	31,020	46,530	62,040
3	19,530	25,975	$26,951	29,295	39,060	58,590	78,120
4	23,550	31,322	$32,499	35,325	47,100	70,650	94,200
5	27,570	36,668	$38,047	41,355	55,140	82,710	110,280
6	31,590	42,015	$43,594	47,385	63,180	94,770	126,360
7	35,610	47,361	$49,142	53,415	71,220	106,830	142,440
8	39,630	52,708	$54,689	59,445	79,260	118,890	158,520
For each additional person, add	$4,020	$5,347	$5,548	$6,030	$8,040	$12,060	$16,080

What Do They Mean By "Household Size"?

For most families it is yourself plus the number of people that you claim as dependents on your income tax return. This may include children, parents, or other relatives who qualify as dependents on your tax return. Children of divorced parents are counted as the family of the parent who claims them as a dependent (even if the other parent has to pay for the child's health insurance). Do not include children who earn enough to support themselves, and so are no longer eligible as dependents, even if they still live at home.

What Does Income Include?

Expected 2014 gross income (before taxes) including wages, tips, net profit from self-employment, interest, rental income,  and other investment income, most pensions, social security payments and alimony.  This will be the amount called "Modified Adjusted Gross Income" shown on your tax return in line 4 of Form 1040EZ, line 21 of 1040A or line 37 of form 1040. If your only income is from a job it is the number shown in box 1 of your W2 form. Include income of all dependents (for example a child's summer earnings or dependent's social security) even if they filed a separate tax return.

Source--http://obamacarefacts.com/federal-poverty-level.php

Health Insurance Cost Calculator

http://www.wahbexchange.org/news-resources/calculate-your-costs/
or visit www.ekandek.com and click on “Health Ins. Cost Calculator”

Health Plan Finder (Washington)

https://www.wahealthplanfinder.org

Medicaid is Apple Health

Big changes are in store for health insurance coverage in Washington. Because of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), more people will be able to get preventive care, like check-ups and cancer screenings, treatment for diabetes and high blood pressure, and many other health care services they need to stay healthy. And we’re changing the name of Medicaid. We’re calling it Apple Health.

You may have already heard of Apple Health for Kids. A while back we combined all our children’s health services into one program that’s streamlined and easy to remember — Apple Health for Kids. Apple Health for adults is the same idea. We will gradually combine all our adult Medicaid clients under the Apple Health umbrella.

Sundown, Day 1 of Obamacare

October 1st was fraught with problems. Not just in Washington, D.C. where the government is all twisted in knots but all across America with citizens being frustrated with the open enrollment of Obamacare.

In WA where I practice the Health Plan Finder website crashed minutes after going live at 7:30AM. It was resurrected a couple of times during the day but most people failed to get past the "Create An Account" page. The site was shut down at 8:00PM for maintenance so the IT guys could work their magic.

Here are some tips for using www.wahealthplanfinder.org (if you can log in)--

1-- Read the description for creating a Username and Password carefully (the description of the username and password are BELOW each of the entry fields)

2--The system will not accept any characters such as apostrophes, hyphen, etc. and it won't tell you why.  It will repeatedly say 'rejected'.

·  -- Do not hit 'Enter'!  Hit TAB or it will kick you out and you have to start over. 

·   --  Don't 'arrow back' - it will kick you out.  Use the 'back' button on the bottom of the page (sometimes on the top of the page as well - if on both, use the bottom button).  And be careful as some pages don't have a 'back' button - so hope you did it right as you won't be able to go back.

·  --   You will be asked to enter your income, your MAGI or Modified Adjusted Gross Income. Have your 2012 tax return handy. IRS tax forms 1040 and 1040A have the MAGI at the bottom of the page.  The 1040 EZ is actually the Net Income. Don’t guess! If your stated income is more than 10% different than what the IRS records show you will receive a form in the mail requesting explanations. If your explanations for being off the mark don’t cut the mustard you may be flagged for an IRS audit.

·  --   This has not been advertised - but the MAGI will also include Social Security.  All Social Security income is taxable. This will be important to those receiving Social Security income such as SSI, or early retirement. If you are on Medicare the ACA enrollment doesn’t apply. 

·  --  Unemployment payments are taxable

Remember, if you do enroll at www.wahealthplanfinder.org look for the button to find an agent/broker and select my name, RICHARD EK.

Health Plans for 2014: Why They're Different

Many of my small group and individual and family clients will be choosing a health plan for the next year that's new. Many of them may wonder why they can't just have the same health plan they're already enjoying. As you know, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has meant many changes. It's a good idea to review some of the most significant ones that are driving changes in health plans.

• All small group and individual health plans must include the 10 essential health benefits. Many plans in the past included some, but not all, of these benefits.
• Four levels of coverage may be offered. These are often referred to as "metal levels" or "metal tiers" and they specify how costs are shared between health plan enrollee and health plan provider. In Washington state, there will be three levels of coverage offered in the market: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.
• Catastrophic health plans are no longer available to most people. They can only be purchased through the Washington Healthplanfinder—our state's online exchange marketplace—by someone younger than age 30 or someone who qualifies for a financial hardship.
• Health insurance cannot be denied for pre-existing conditions. This rule has been in place already for children, and takes effect for adults in 2014.

If you have or are on a small group medical plan (Employer sponsored plan) there will be some changes on January 1, 2014 but your plan won't "renew" and go through all of the changes until the contract year ends. Thus, if your plan renews every June for example, your exiting plan continues until the regular contract renewal date in June 2014. The only thing that can alter that date is to search for a new plan earlier than the contract renewal date, enroll to the new plan and terminate the old one.