Health Insurance < 65
Looking for individual coverage?
Affordable Care Act (ACA), Obamacare, the Exchange - all are the same: it's the marketplace in Washington State where you can apply, get a subsidy, and select and enroll in individual or family coverage.
If you are under 65 and do not have company insurance, this is where you go for coverage.
Starting point: estimate your subsidy eligibility and browse plans
Want to research on your own? Or call me to do it for you as I know the short-cuts and networks. Plans have standardized components but vary wildly on their networks of doctors.
I always start with user-friendly HealthSherpa where a few clicks and you are able to figure out your estimated subsidy and compare and contrast plans.
The ACA application is deceptively simple, and simply deceptive to use (at times)
Phase 1 Subsidy Eligibility
Determine your eligibility for a subsidy. Incorrectly input your annual data for your taxable household and you can either miss out on a subsidy or get too much and have to pay it back plus a tax penalty on April 15th.
Phase 2 Plan Selection
The Smart Planfinder is sometimes not so smart. Always confirm whether your doctor is in the network by going to each insurance carrier’s website *** If you qualify, Silver plans may have cost reductions.
Phase 3 Ongoing
Submit income docs to ACA, special enrollment doc to carrier *** This is a “living” account. Any change of income or household requires changes to your account. Changes before the 15th go into effect the first of the next month.