Gobble Gobble
Thanksgiving means that the ACA and Medicare enrollment deadlines are dangerously close. You have other fish to fry, and the issue is: so does everyone else.
ACA Enrollment Deadline: Officially December 15, Nope
This is a bit misleading. Reason: you need to enroll by December 15th in order for a new plan (and premium) to take effect on January 1.
Paid Subscriber FREE PREVIEW
Note: if you choose a new plan, then you need to actually PAY your first by December 31, 2021. While there is a grace period, that is not true for the first payment. If you do not make payment prior to December 31 for NEW plans, then your policy will be cancelled. In the months after January, your payment is subject to the state and carrier’s grace period rules, which can differ from state to state.
Doing Nothing Isn’t Quite Right
Even if you simply wanted to keep the same plan, you still want to intentionally renew. Why? Because you want to make sure that you are getting the correct premium.
The plan’s premium may have changed, even if everything about you has remained the same.
You’re a year older, time has marched on.
Your income may have changed.
You stopped receiving unemployment benefits from your state.
New carriers and plans in your area may mean that more suitable options exist.
To frequent readers, this isn’t going to be a surprise: the moving parts involved in financial contracts, uh, move. This Substack is to inform you that you may not be considering the fact that there are many components that affect your price (of anything), that you do not understand, or those that are not explained in a 3-minute YouTube video.
The Much More Than Medicare YouTube Channel explains many of the moving parts, there is an entire playlist called Health Insurance on the channel.
Free Estimation Tool
If you live in a state that uses healthcare.gov, then this is a very simple way of getting an estimate of your possible savings. You will not receive a call, you will receive a follow-up email.
Remember, even then, there are ways to get even more from your selection.
Still Time For Medicare Changes
For those that are shocked/annoyed at the Medicare Part B increases (from $148.50 to $170.10 a month in 2022), there are Medicare Advantage plans that rebate money back into your Social Security benefits check.
That isn’t the endpoint, of course, you will want to triple the degree of scrutiny before attempting to enroll in these plans (you don’t get the money for nothin’, no chicks for free, thanks to Dire Straits for that line
January 2022