Health Insurance Rate Increases – What To Do About Grandfathered Health Plans?

Rather than speculate about what the agent and Anthem were thinking, I shared with Barry that if he had asked me last summer if he should move out of his grandfathered health plan, I would have also told him to stay put. The uncertainty of what the cost and benefits of the new ObamaCare plans were going to be was still not known.

But today, things have changed. I now know what the new ACA “metal” plans are going to look like. In discussions with the health insurance companies, I’ve learned that the premium cost of the new ObamaCare plans is going to shock most people, and on average could be as much as $300 to $500 per person. Knowing this information I can’t recommend that clients stay in the old grandfathered plans anymore.

Here’s Why?

The new ACA plans are going to be just as expensive as the old grandfathered plans. But the new plans will offer free benefits that the old plans don’t. Plus, if the cost of the new plans is too high, many of you will qualify for subsidies to help pay for the new plan costs. If you stay in a grandfathered plan, you will get no subsidy assistance.

So by switching to a current plan today that will allow you to lower your monthly cost and still get the benefit levels you need, you can save money and not put yourself in a worse situation come 2014.

At that point, Barry was ready to change, so we discussed the options that would work best for his family and Barry selected the plan he wanted. Barry wanted to discuss the change with his wife first, so I sent the quotes and information about the plans to him so he would have the information to show his wife.

The next day Barry’s wife called me to say that they had decided on the health insurance plan they wanted to apply for and she wanted to know how to apply.

What Does This Mean For You?

Being in a Grandfathered Health Plan is not a life sentence. You don’t have to stay in the old plan if there are better options available. The difficulty is in knowing if better options exist. This is an area your agent or broker can help you with.

As you can see from the discussion above, it’s important to stay on top of what’s happening with the Health Care Reform changes. However, it takes time to read, listen, and research all the information. So most of you won’t do it, and will rely on your broker to know this information.

That’s why it’s vital to work with a broker than can explain in easy terms what is happening, and what it means for you. At SPF Insurance, we work for you, and we pride ourselves on being the Health Care Reform experts. Sign up for our monthly newsletter to get the highlights and strategies you need to know about, delivered to your email inbox.