Consumer-Directed Health Plans

As we are in 2013, we are seeing the amount of small employers (2-199 employees)offering group health insurance decrease; and also the amount of employees participating in offered plans by employers decrease too. What does that mean? Well it means we have even bigger challenges to face once Jan 2014 comes and the next phase of the PPACA (Affordable Care Act/Obamacare) is implemented. If folks are not participating in plans now because of costs, what is going to happen when premiums rise, and Americans are forced to buy insurance or face tax penalties? Many think not much, while others say a windfall of Americans will jump on to plans. We are also seeing the amount of employer's subsidies of health insurance premiums for family plans decrease (2012 was hovering around 40%) and we are expecting that number to continue to climb to 50% throughout the coming years. The good news about the ACA for consumers are private health insurance exchanges. It seems public exchanges are getting TONS of pushback at the state level, though private exchanges are gaining momentum. For consumers whether they buy from carriers directly, public exchanges, or private exchanges, and with or without an advisor/broker, the prices will be fixed. A recent Kaiser study found 25% of folks in MASS Connector plans found it extremely hard to understand plans, and would always prefer having some kind of advisor. Assuming the section of polled folks was enough, many argue that an advisor is critical. More to follow from the Geeks at Health Insurance Geeks.