Americans Reminded To Re-Examine Health Costs

MIAMI — Americans who simply let their health insurance roll over from 2014 to 2015 would be wise to take a second look at their coverage, according to a new study released.

Odds are, they’ll be paying more than they need to in the new year. The good news is, they have until Feb. 15 to correct what may be a costly oversight.

Under the open enrollment provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Americans must have personal health insurance, either through their employer or by purchasing it themselves, or be subject to a hefty tax penalty. The first deadline for shopping plans in time for Jan. 1 coverage was Dec. 15.

HealthCare.com, the nation’s leading private comparison tool and search engine for health insurance plans, today released a white paper study that found 68.2 percent of the 42,728 plans available on the federal marketplace in both 2014 and 2015 (same Plan ID for the same state/county/rating area) have premium increases of at least $10 for the coming year – that’s 29,129 plans in all.

Increases are automatically passed on to consumers who did not proactively shop a new plan and consequently were automatically enrolled in the ones they had.  On its website, HealthCare.com offers federal plans, as well as virtually all the state exchange plans and many private off-exchange plans.

Fortunately, these increases don’t have to happen, and consumers have a second chance to put money back in their pockets.

The same study found that 85.6 percent of the federal marketplace plans have at least one similar alternative plan available that would prevent a consumer from paying a premium increase, and would either hold medical deductibles steady or even decrease them in most cases. More than 70 percent of the federal marketplace plans have an average of 4.8 money-saving alternative plans available. And, on average, those plans can save consumers up to $703.32 a year.

Consumers who did not proactively pick a plan by Dec. 15, and consequently auto-enrolled in the same plan for 2015, still have until Feb. 15 under the ACA to pick a new plan.