Broadbent Financial Services

Feb, 25 2016

   As the open enrollment has sailed by we have been getting questions about aquiring health insurance at this point in the year.  

   To recap on what you've probably heard, health insurance now has an enrollment period that ended January 31st of this year. The next enrollment period for plans starting in 2017 will start again November 1st, 2016 and will go until January 31st, 2017. So what can we do if we want to get health insurance coverage between now and January 1st next year? 

   According to the new laws of the Affordable Care Act, if you want to apply for health insurance, you must have a "Qualifying Life Event". These events can be:

• Getting Married

• Having a baby

• Moving (To a different State or Zip Code)

• Losing Job-based Coverage Involuntarily

• Losing Coverage from Your Parents Plan by Turning 26

• Adopting a Child

• Placing a Child for Adoption or Foster Care

• Gaining Citizenship

• Gaining or Losing a Dependant

• Death of Member In The Household

• Divorce

• Leaving Incarceration

• Graduated and Lost Student Coverage

• Income Increased Making You No longer Eligible for Medicaid

• COBRA Coverage Expired

• End of Policy Plan Year was in 2014

   If you have had one of these events happen it will open a 60 day "special enrollment period" from the date of the event for you to enroll in. However if you wait more than 60 days you will be unable to get health insurance coverage until January 1st, 2017.

   If you have found yourself in the situation of not having a health insurance coverage and without a qualifying life event, there are a few alternatives that you can find some health insurance coverage on. Feel free to call us at 435-752-7200 if you would like to know about these options.

November 27th, 2013

    One question that we have been getting from our clients lately is, "With Obama's announcement, do I still have to get insurance for next year?" The answer is yes. 

   Since things were not panning out as smoothly as the presidential administration might have planned, President Obama recently announced "Insurers can extend current plans that otherwise would be canceled into 2014 and Americans whose plans have been canceled can choose to re-enroll in the same kind of plan... " To clarify, this was already implemented in Utah's state law and most insurance companies in the state of Utah already were incorporating this option for the last several months. For example Selecthealth has been offering, for a while, the option to people to get insurance or renew their policy early for a plan to start at the end of December 2013 that would last up to the end of 2014.

    So does the announcement change anything that will effect insurance for individuals? No. The Affordable Care Act or more commonly known as Obamacare will continue in force as it has been written in law to do.

October 4th, 2013

    With the arrival of "October 1st"  and the temporary government shutdown, many people are wondering how the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is being impacted.

    The government has previously set aside some funding to enable Health Care reform to keep marching forward. With that funding, there are two new programs now in place in Utah. "The Insurance Marketplace" for individuals and "Avenue H" for small businesses.

    The more relevant program for individuals and families is "The Insurance Marketplace". This program is basically for Individuals who do not have health insurance available to them from an employer and who make less than 400% above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). Many young families in northern Utah will actually fit into this category and be able to qualify for subsidies which will significantly reduce the amount of their monthly premium. In many cases this will result in saving them hundreds or even thousands of dollars throughout the year.

    If you are interested in seeing if you qualify - email, call, or come in and see us. Let's see how much money you could save yourself this next year.