It is no secret that the individual health insurance industry has become very complicated with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act. Ohio has seen a flurry of companies enter the marketplace and try to offer coverage. Many companies such as United Healthcare and CareSource are exiting Ohio (and all the U.S.) at the end of 2016. Ohio Companies like InHealth will completely disappear as they are broke.
If you want to learn some of the ins-and-outs to health insurance, then read below. If you want to move on to seeing your plan options, please submit a quote and an Ohio Health Insurance agent will review your case and provide you with possible options.
Ohio Individual Health Insurance – Things to Know
Here is the most important things that Ohioans should know if they are purchasing private health insurance.
Unfortunately, one of the things we preach to our clients is, don’t try to make sense of the process. Much of it does NOT make sense. While this is a scary thing to say. It is 100% true. For example, we may have one client who wants coverage for a family of three and they have to pay $1100 a month for a $4000 deductible. Another family of five may apply for the same $4000 deductible, but get rewarded with a zero deductible and pay $32 a month. The reason for this is variables. There are a great deal of variables, and here are some of the most important ones:
- ON or OFF Exchange
- Household Income
- Number of dependents
- Age of Applicants
- Single, Married, or Head of Household
- What part of Ohio do you live in
- What doctor(s) you want to see
- Plan Type: PPO, POS, or HMO
- What hospital(s) you want access to
- What prescription drugs you need covered
- Smoker or Non-Smoker
- Pregnant or not pregnant
Essentially, any variations in the above list creates a different plan option. Furthermore, you have to apply during proper enrollment periods.
Health Insurance Open Enrollment
Open Enrollment is November 1st through January 31st. You must enroll between 11/1 and 12/15 to obtain a January 1st start date. An application submitted 12/16 to 1/15 would create a 2/1 start date and 1/16 to 1/31 would create a 3/1 start date.
If you apply outside of Open Enrollment you must have a qualified Special Enrollment (SEP). An example would be leaving your job and losing coverage, moving to a new state, or giving birth to a child.
Another key point is that you have to buy compliant ACA coverage or else you will receive a tax penalty of 2.5%. Many American’s actively chose to buy non-compliant coverage because the of the lower cost and the large network of doctors who will accept non-compliant health insurance plans.
If you are still reading this page, then God bless you! Here is the key point. It is very very complicated to buy individual health insurance in Ohio. Our best advice is to get a quote through us and a licensed agent will call you. When the agent calls, please be respectful, as many of our fellow agents will no longer assist people in this process. We still assist clients with this coverage, but we prefer working with polite consumers.
Our Health Agents
All EasyToInsureME agents have a minimum of five years experience. Our agents are responsible for their clients. This means you can pick up the phone anytime M-F and call your agent and speak with them. This level of service is rare in today’s business world. We are glad to still offer Ohian’s this level of service when purchasing health insurance.
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