Notices to Change or Renew Marketplace Plans

By the end of November everyone enrolled in a Health Insurance Marketplace plan should get two notices about changing and renewing marketplace plans during open enrollment 2015.  One notice will be from your insurer and the other will be from your state’s marketplace.  These notifications will help you to understand what is new for open enrollment 2015 and will help you make the right decisions in regards to your coverage.

Automatic Renewal of Marketplace Plans

The main point of the notices will be to inform you whether or not your plan will automatically renew.  There are a few different things that can happen and you’ll only know which one applies to you if you log into the marketplace.

• Your plan and cost assistance renew.

• Your plan isn’t offered so you are automatically renewed in a similar plan with similar cost assistance.

• Your plan isn’t offered and you are not automatically renewed.

Automatic Renewal and Cost Assistance

No matter whether your plan will auto-renew or not you’l still need to verify your information in regards to cost assistance.  If your income or another factor that impacts cost assistance changes you could end up not getting enough cost assistance or getting too much and owing money on your federal income taxes.

Make sure to verify your information in regards to cost assistance so you get the cost assistance you deserve.

If you Are Automatically Enrolled in a Plan

According to healthcare.gov if you are automatically enrolled in a plan the notice will tell you.:

• The plan you’ll be enrolled in
• Your 2015 monthly premium and estimated savings
• Any changes to your plan for 2015
• Your other coverage options, deadlines, and important information about your coverage

If you’ll be automatically enrolled in the same or a similar plan, your Marketplace notice will tell you which one of the following applies to you:

• You’ll get the same premium tax credit and other savings you had in 2014
• You’ll lose your premium tax credit and other savings unless you update your Marketplace application and the new information shows that you qualify for savings

If you Aren’t Automatically Enrolled in a Plan

If you won’t be automatically enrolled in your 2014 plan, your notice will explain:

• Your coverage options
• Enrollment deadlines
• Next steps to take
• Other important information

Seeing New Plan Options For 2015

Regardless of whether or not you are automatically enrolled in a plan or not you’ll want to log into the marketplace before December 15th, 2015 and see what options are available.  There has been a 25% increase in marketplace plans, an average increase in premium growth of only 4%, and cost assistance thresholds (Federal Poverty Levels) have increased allowing more Americans access to subsidies.  We recommend you shop around for health insurance quotes each year.  Shopping around won’t just tell you what marketplace options you have, it’ll show you how much you are saving and how much your plan compares to other marketplace plans in and non-marketplace plans in your region.