Health Insurance HQ: An Update on the Health Care Landscape | Entertainment Community Fund

Health Insurance HQ: An Update on the Health Care Landscape

Welcome to Health Insurance HQ—coming to you from the experts at The Actors Fund's Artists Health Insurance Resource Center and special guests!

Health Insurance HQ distills the current political activity around health care into a brief, monthly educational update to help you become a more active consumer and citizen. Our experts in the field and others in our community are here to provide you with plenty of handy resources to help you use your voice and your vote to make a difference. 

Don’t Panic! But Do Make Informed Decisions

Tax credits offset high premiums
Did you receive a notice from your health insurance carrier telling you that your 2018 premium is going up hundreds of dollars? Don’t panic! If you’re subsidy eligible (Don’t know? Find out here) then the premium quoted most likely isn’t accounting for the premium assistance/tax credits that the Federal government contributes to lower your monthly premium. You’ll see the true monthly premium when you log into your health insurance exchange account.

There’s still time to make changes
Did you also receive a notice from your health insurance carrier that your plan will auto-renew by a certain date? Did this make it seem like you would  have to keep this plan all year at that monthly premium amount? Once again, don’t panic! If you’ve been auto-renewed you still have until December 15 to change your health plan selection, update your 2018 income and any other household details that have changed since your last enrollment. And if you’re in one of the many states that have extended open enrollment, you may still have time to switch your plan sometime later in December or even January.  Please visit our October HQ for a complete list of these open enrollment deadlines in each state.

Shop around and dust off that calculator
When shopping around for a health insurance plan you want to make sure you’re enrolling in a plan with cost sharing that makes the most sense for you and your family. Sometimes people go for the least expensive monthly premium automatically, but that doesn’t always make sense. You want to look at what your anticipated healthcare needs/costs are. For example:

  • Do you need a hip or knee operation, or are you pregnant? If you are likely to be hospitalized in 2018, it might not make sense to pay a $5000 deductible for a Silver plan if the Gold Premium is only $100 more per month. In that scenario, paying $ $100 extra in premiums per month for a Gold plan would save you $3800 per year in medical expenses.
  • Do you take prescriptions? If so, Bronze plans have such high cost sharing for prescriptions that you’d be paying out of pocket for ALL of your drugs and you would want to choose  a higher metal tier plan for your needs.
  • Conversely, if you NEVER use your health insurance and you want to get a health plan “just in case” or to avoid a penalty, then a Gold wouldn’t make sense for you. Those high premiums wouldn’t necessarily pay off, and a Bronze plan might actually be more cost effective.

There are also tools and spreadsheets available to help you breakdown these costs. Two examples include The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Marketplace Plan Comparison Worksheet and Business Insider’s article and sample spreadsheet for building your own health insurance calculator spreadsheet.

These are just a few examples of how to compare plans and shop around for what would work best for you and your family. But, as always, we recommend you ask for help from the health insurance experts at The Actors Fund. We spend FAR too much time thinking about these things. Take advantage of our health insurance nerdiness!

Yours in good health,

Brigid Sweeney
Health Services, Western Region

Do you work in performing arts and entertainment and have questions about health insurance? The Actors Fund provides assistance nationally. Contact our regional office closest to you to speak to a counselor.

New York City
917.281.5975

Los Angeles
855.491.3357

Don’t forget to use the resources section of our website. It contains tools to help you make decisions about your health insurance, including new online tutorials on how to choose providers and how to read an Explanation of Benefits. In addition, you’ll find an updated Stage Managers National Health Directory, our national online directory of health care providers recommended by industry professionals that can be used by theatres and touring companies. For these resources and more, visit actorsfund.org/HealthServices. You can also find out more about enrollment assistance and upcoming health insurance seminars near you!