If you don’t have health insurance or you have a high deductible plan that will only cover you for a catastrophic illness you will soon be able to sign up for good coverage that begins on January 1, 2014.
The
Marketplace for Maine opens October 1st. You can sign up online by
going to www.healthcare.gov. If you don’t have access to a computer, prefer to
sign up by phone or need help with the online application, you can call a
telephone helpline 24 hours a day, every day. The number is 1-800-318-2596.
The
website and the telephone helpline also provide information about the various
plans available in Maine, what they will cost you and whether or not you
qualify for a subsidy to pay for it. Once you start the application process you
will be given your own ID/application number so if you need to gather
additional information such as income, you can start the process and return to
complete it later.
There
will be other resources that can help you if you need it. There will be
navigators, certified application counselors, insurance brokers and, in some
instances, your local library. For a list of resources based in Maine you will
be able to look at www.enroll207.com.
New
benefits! We have already experienced some of the benefits of the Affordable
Care Act such as parents being able to keep their children on their health
insurance plan up to age 26. Starting January 1st other important
provisions of the law begin. No one can
be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. No one can lose their insurance because they become sick. Your rate can
not go up because you get sick.
If
you or someone you know is not covered please encourage them to sign up. Young
people who are healthy often feel they don’t need insurance. However, they can
have an accident or an unexpected illness which can bankrupt them and ruin
their credit. The leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. is an
unexpected illness for a person without health insurance.
Other
resources for information include:
Consumers
for Affordable Health Care: 1-800-965-7476 or www.mainecahc.org
Maine
Area Agencies on Aging for questions about Medicare Part D prescription drugs
and the Medicare Savings Program: Call 1-877-353-3771.
For
a 3 minute overview of the ACA: http://youtube/watch?v=ioc6DrsJcCo
Finally,
for those of you who want to help get everyone in Maine health insurance
coverage you can join the efforts through Cover Maine Now at
www.covermainenow.com. Maine is one of the states that has not accepted the
offer of the federal government to pay 100 percent of the costs to expand our
Medicaid program to cover almost 70,000 Maine people making between
$11,000/year and $15,000/year (individual). Covering everyone saves money and
saves lives.
Feel
free to contact me with any comments or questions at jane.p.pringle@gmail.com
or 207-892-8266.
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