We all can remember the initial open enrollment last year for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more commonly known as Obamacare. It was a highly anticipated event and was thought to be a great thing by those in alliance with our president. However, there were many things about this plan that many of us did not know. We are still learning more about this. Many have found the costs to be greater than anticipated. Many have found the deductibles to be considerably higher in order to limit the added premium payments. Many experts think the costs will be even greater this year. However, increasing costs were part of the problem prior to Obamacare as well.
The aim of the law was to increase access to medical care and to decrease medical costs. In time we can evaluate this.
The time has come once again for open enrollment in the next ACA marketplace. The open enrollment period starts November 15, 2014, and ends on February 15, 2015. Patients have the option once again to choose between a state public exchange health insurance plan and private ACA-compliant plans.To confirm, there is no national plan available under the ACA.
When shopping for plans make sure you are aware of coverage percentages, deductible amounts, exclusions, among other things. Now dental insurance is not at all mandatory under the ACA; however, dental insurance must be made available. The dental coverage may be purchased as part of a medical plan or it may be purchased separately.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service lists four key dates for the ACA health insurance marketplace:
11-15-2014: open enrollment starts once again
12-15-2014: deadline for enrollment in order to start new coverage on 01-01-2015.
12-15-2014: deadline for enrollment to avoid a lapse in any current coverage you may have, whether or not you are changing plans.
12-31-2014: coverage ends for 2014 plans.
01-01-2015: the earliest date that new plans may begin
02-15-2015: deadline to apply for 2015 coverage, open enrollment ends.
For more information on Obamacare we invite you to peruse my previous posts on the subject. I am making an earnest attempt to provide you with timely information on Obamacare and how it relates to dental insurance coverage. We do have the series of posts for your information.
If you value our value-added service we would welcome you to experience my dental practice. We invite you to contact us at (972) 250-2580, or in any other manner you may prefer that is available within this web page.
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