<p>I have a relative that is getting divorced on December 31. She has been covered on her husbands policy until now. Her husband is 59, but she is 70. She has to pay to get medicare coverage because she never worked and they told her she doesn’t qualify for subsidized Medicare until her husband (ex) turns 62. So someone else told her she can buy insurance through the exchange instead. When I was researching this awhile back, it pretty much told me that you cannot buy health insurance through the exchange if you are over 65. Her medicare and supplemental policies are going to be pretty expensive so she’s hoping that she can get health insurance through the exchange instead. She would not qualify for subsidies, but is hoping to at least find affordable insurance.</p>
<p>“This is probably a whole new thread, but wondering what happens to surrogate baby industry…does insurance cover infertility and surrogacy.”</p>
<p>My employer insurance has covered infertility treatment since the mid 90’s - after we spent $88K on it in the early 90’s. Don’t have any idea about surrogacy.</p>
<p>She should investigate if she is going to be eligible for Medicaid when she gets divorced. I know people over 62 who never worked and they have Medicaid. However these people have no assets and are also eligible for other programs. She might have to structure her divorce agreement in such a way that she is protected.</p>
<p>(Historically, yes, employers covered insurance payments for family members. But from an HR perspective, that means an employer pays more for married folks than single; in a way, disadvantaging/discriminating against single employees. Thus, employers are starting to reduce the employer portion paid for dependents to treat each employee the same. Of course, the primary reason for dropping dependent coverage is cost savings, but there is an element of fairness in it as well.)</p>
<p>The legislative fix I had in mind was if the insurance for the whole family wasn’t deemed affordable, then the family would be eligible for subsidies. </p>
<p>With this hypothetical low-income family, blithely saying the mother of a newborn could go out and get a job that would pay her the $1100/month she’d need for her and the baby’s insurance, plus the cost of child care and the increased taxes, seems, well, optimistic.</p>
<p>It turns out you can’t delete your healthcare.gov account, at least not without major headaches, and I hesitate to create a duplicate account – I just don’t want to go into those weeds.</p>
<p>Bought the plan I wanted on bcbsil.com in about 5 minutes. $216/month for a silver plan with a $3000 deductible and nice low office visit and prescription copays. No exclusions and complete parity for mental health coverage.</p>
<p>I don’t want all the drama with the website to overshadow the fact that this has transformed my entire future.</p>
<p>Do not hold your breath that it is going to happen. It was the Obama administration who clarified 9.5% rule earlier this year. They had a power to come up with a different definition, but they did not.</p>
<p>May I ask you how old you are? The premium is quite low, even for $3K deductible. Also what state? (I am thinking of IL, but I might be mistaken).</p>
<p>“Can I also say, the various times folks say, change jobs or get a job-- not always that easy.”</p>
<p>No it’s not - which is why I brought up how often it is suggested in other instances - like the minimum wage worker, or the unemployed being told to move to a part of the country where employment is better. </p>
<p>What’s good for the goose…</p>
<p>Congrats Hanna! I hope all the dreams you have for your business come true!</p>
<p>I agree it’s not that easy, not even close. But the minimum wage thing has always bugged me. These are entry-level non-skilled jobs. You are supposed to move up or move on. Do people not know this?</p>
<p>I don’t know much about this, but the IRS may have gotten involved in the 9.5% issue. There’s more info pre-Oct 1 than post.</p>
<p>I am also happy for Hanna. “…transformed my entire future.”</p>
<p>Where do you move up to, if the jobs aren’t there? In some fields, in some locations, sure. But for too many, it’s just not what it was like when we were younger.</p>
<p>Maybe it depends on where you live but most of the kids I know who want to scoop ice cream or make smoothies while attending a CC are working at wages above the minimum. Not saying this is a solution to anything but sometimes we do tend to exaggerate reality.</p>
<p>My son looked for three months for a minimum wage job. He applied for many, many jobs. Finally, he found a job for 16 hours a week. Minimum wage jobs are not sprouting on every tree, not in my area.</p>
<p>Yes, it was IRS who issued the final ruling, but don’t you think they got their input from various offices controlled by current administration?</p>
<p>P.S. I am surprised there is no uproar about this.</p>
<p>Anyone have a pointer to the IRS ruling in question? Is this the ruling that says if the insurance is affordable for the employee, but not for the rest of the family, it’s still affordable?</p>