<p>Washmother, looking at the plans available on the Washington state exchange, it looks like my assumptions were mistaken – I entered data for a fictional 30-year-old single parent with $22K AGI, and found that indeed there are Silver plans with CSR reductions which also purport to be HSA eligible. I don’t know the answer for you and I don’t think that you can rely on Somemom’s training from a different state – I’m sure she is right about what she was taught, but in the end the only authoritative source will be in the law itself, IRS regs, or opinions issued by the IRS, or (down the line) opinions issued by courts. (When it comes down to it, the subsidy and AGI stuff all falls under the tax code). </p>
<p>And I think there may be glitches and loopholes in the way the law is written, so it may be that there is stuff that is not yet resolved. It may be that states that are setting up their own exchanges may have different interpretations of the gray areas in the regulations as well – that’s why I say that Somemom’s post may reflect the legal consensus in the state where she was training whereas perhaps there is a different view in the state where you live. Laws are not always neat and tidy – it is all the uncertainties that keep lawyers in business.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s amazing crappy, poetgrl. I didn’t even think deductibles were allowed to be $10,000, let alone go up by $10,000. Is this a grandfathered plan? Have you looked around to see if something better is on offer? With your and your family’s excellent health, you might be eligible to buy a catastrophic policy, which might suit your needs better.</p>
<p>Looking at recouping my health insurance payment is not a way I want to view things. I don’t want to recoup my insurance payments, and I hope I never do recoup them. I’d hate to recoup my fire insurance payment, for example.</p>
<p>MaineLonghorn, I wonder about medicaid too.</p>
<p>I wonder how medicaid affects our out of pocket costs. As a family the out of pocket maximum is 12600 or something like that with the ACA plans. Doesn’t matter if there are 3 on are plan or 4 on our plan. Is their a medicaid out of pocket maximum? I was reading some people on medicaid do have to pay something. We should save a little money in premiums. Something to figure out. </p>
<p>Ads for health insurance during Texas college football games? That is a good market. Those insurance companies…
Listening to Carmen McRae. Nice…</p>
<p>I was fiddling around on Covered California, and, oddly, the premiums if I bought insurance for myself are exactly the same as if I bought insurance for myself and my two imaginary children under 18. Is this a bug, or are the premiums really the same?</p>
<p>Let’s clarify. You will get a refund unless they spend 85% of your premium on SOMEBODY’S health care. But it doesn’t have to be yours. If your premiums go to cancer kids and that guy with diabetes and the family that had the car crash and the woman with emphysema and the fellow down the block who had the heart attack, you don’t get a refund. But if the premiums go to the vice-president of the insurance company’s ski vacation, then you get a refund.</p>
<p>I don’t know the details of your plan, but $900 a month doesn’t sound so outlandish that it’s obviously too high.</p>
<p>CF, i dont think the kids are free. I think that was a mistake. My imaginary kids are about 100 a month. What makes your imaginary kids so special?</p>
<p>CF, what income figures are you using? If you qualify for a subsidy, then the total amount is the same whether it is one person or 10. Also, I believe that in California children are qualified for Medicaid in households with incomes up to 250% of FPL.</p>
<p>My imaginary kids are really, really great, that’s why they don’t cost extra. Or maybe the insurers realize that imaginary kids don’t cost much. Or maybe there’s an imaginary part to the premium that was quoted, but they didn’t print it, and the actual premium is $650 + 350i.</p>
<p>I’m sure they will find a way to make the ski lodge a medical expense. </p>
<p>They are insurance companies! </p>
<p>I’m not that upset. But people will be. Especially if they were counting on that money to pay college tuition. Which I was. But I’ll fiddle around and come up with the money. </p>
<p>My daughter is older than 21 and disabled. I have her under my plan but I understand that she can qualify for medicaid because her income is 1,000 a year. She lives in my household but my income doesnt matter. I also understand that she is not kicked off my plan when she turns 26. She does receive SSI and she cant own 2000 in assets with some exceptions.</p>
<p>If poetgrl has a grandfathered plan, then it is very possible that her previous plan didn’t include coverage for some of the essential health benefits required under ACA, or had a lifetime spending cap that does not apply any longer. Without seeing her plan, it’s hard to compare. She may be getting a variety of benefits and protections she didn’t have before (not necessarily things that she wants or will personally benefit from – for example, all plans must now include maternity coverage, but not all human beings are capable of getting pregnant).</p>
<p>dstark, that’s the kind of question that I have. We are currently trying to get SSI for our son. It’s so complicated! I don’t know how people figure out all of this stuff. I must not be looking in the right places for help.</p>
<p>Calmom, so you’re saying that if my imaginary family qualifies for a subsidy, then the whole family pays the same rate that I would pay as a single subscriber? That seems to be the result I’m seeing, but it doesn’t make sense to me. </p>
<p>If my imaginary family has an income of $500,000, then our most expensive insurance option would be $1595. But if my imaginary family has an income of $50,000, then our most expensive option would be $1049 before the subsidy, $736 after the subsidy. If I murder those two imaginary kids, my premium after the bereavement would still be $1049. </p>
<p>I think you’re right, calmom, and there’s something going on with MediCal. Little Skipper and Junior would be eligible for MediCal, and maybe MediCal is paying their premiums.</p>
That is a good market. Those insurance companies…