2017 open enrollment begins

By (Donald) Kenton Henry, editor, broker at TheWoodandsTXHealthInsurance.com

Well, here we are -- Obamacare Open Enrollment is underway as of Tuesday, November 1. We cross the finish line January 31, at which point, our health insurance, barring a significant life change, will be locked in the remainder of the year.

This month is my 30th year in the industry and it is my job to help you elect your best health insurance option for 2017.

Here are the challenges ahead of us. As those of you who were in Under Age 65 health insurance market last year know, you were forced off your PPO plan (assuming you were in one) and into HMO coverage. And you learned it was extremely difficult to find your doctors and hospitals in any HMO plan network. (In an HMO plan, you must utilize providers in your network or you have no coverage whatsoever.) Hence, you found your doctors, hospitals, and, effectively, your treatment rationed.

Previews of the 2017 plans and premiums indicate most insurance companies have withdrawn from the market and those remaining are continuing to offer HMO coverage only. To add insult to injury, they are offering it at dramatically higher premiums. In Texas, premiums are 25% higher on average. And they are much higher in many other states.

As I write, plan and premium change notices are arriving in the mail and pushing the edge out of the sticker shock envelope. My own arrived, and while a 23% increase sounds good relative to what many of my clients are experiencing, the insurance company is also raising the deductible on my plan by a thousand dollars. A client left a message in my voicemail late Friday evening informing me his premium is increasing 58.9%. He went on to say, “That is unsustainable and I will pay the penalty before I pay that premium! We will have to find something else!”

What he may not know yet, and what I will have to inform him, is that he will only have plans for two companies to choose from in his county. One is the company he is with.

Regardless, all the options he will have are at significantly higher premiums than last year. Since 2014 (the first year Americans whose net income fell below a certain threshold were able to receive subsidies to offset a portion of their health insurance premium) I have said "if you qualify for a significant one" you may be happy with your health insurance premium. However, if you are one of the millions of hard working Americans making just above that threshold, in all likelihood, you are, like my client who left the voicemail, distraught over what is happening to your health insurance costs.

That being said, and as was already said, it is my job to help you identify your best option. And to do so without foregoing health insurance protection and paying the ensuing penalty for doing so. The strategy I employed for myself in 2016 is the same I will be utilizing in 2017. It is not what I would prefer, but what I would prefer is not an option. It is, however, the best option in light of the circumstances.

Finances may not be your concern but access to your providers may be. Or, access to your providers may not be your concern but finances may be. Both may be your concern. My strategy may work for you or it may not. But I feel it provides the least compromise and is the best for adapting to this current state of affairs. At least until better options avail themselves in the individual and family health insurance market.

Please contact me at 281–367–6565 to discuss it. If you feel it, or another approach, is the way you would like to proceed, I can make the application process go as quickly and smoothly as possible. And that is whether you qualify for a subsidy or not and without you having to personally deal with healthcare.gov.

The important thing I would like for you to appreciate is - you are charged not one penny more in premium by going through me for your health insurance than if you were to go directly through the front door of the insurance company whose product you wish to acquire and purchased it directly. And I charge no fee for my service. I only hope that, if I introduce you to a product you wish to utilize or a strategy, you wish to employ, you will acquire the product through me as your agent.

Note to small business owners: You have possible recourse regarding the poor options in the individual and family health insurance market. If you are the owner of a legal business entity, e.g., LLC or corporation, you have an alternative. During the Small Business Open Enrollment Period (SBOEP) from November 1 through December 15 you may enroll your employer group and still have access to quality coverage and, more importantly, quality PPO provider networks where you are in control of who your providers are and, therefore, your treatment.

During this SBOEP you will not have to meet the participation or contribution requirements which apply to small business group enrollment during the remainder of the year. In other words, you need only cover a minimum of two employees and you can require they pay 100% of their personal and family premium which will then be payroll deducted from their compensation. Please contact me if you have an interest in pursuing this strategy.

For those of you for whom individual and family insurance is your only option, as of Tuesday, you may go to my website at TheWoodlandsTXHealthInsurance.com to review your options. Once there, you may apply online or call me to discuss the details of the options you see and I can submit your application for you.

In the meantime, if you know or believe you qualify for a subsidy of your premium, you may go to my second quoting site where you may calculate the subsidy you qualify for or the penalty for not purchasing health insurance in 2017. You may go on to obtain your quote and, if applying, log directly into healthcare.gov and apply. If doing so, when asked if you are working with anyone else on your coverage, select Agent or Broker and list my agent (legal) name, Donald Kenton Henry, and my National Producer Number (NPN) 387509.

If you do this, I will be able to assist with any incomplete applications or outstanding requirements. If you become my client, in most cases, I can handle service-related issues throughout the year without you having to deal with the personnel at healthcare.gov or an insurance company.

Click on this link to calculate penalties, subsidies and preview the plans available Tuesday, November 1: https://allplanhealthinsurance.insxcloud.com/my-quote/individual-info

I look forward to working with you. You may call me at 281–367–6565.

Click to read the New York Times feature article Health Law Tax Penalty? I'll Take It, Millions Say.