Radioactivity October 27, 2017
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up—is Obamacare going away or collapsing? No. Despite some efforts in Congress—the ACA is still with us. The sign up period begins Wednesday, November 1st. If you have questions about signing up for the ACA or if you have a moderate income and want to see whether you are eligible for a subsidy—this program is for you.
Gallup reported last week that 3.5 million fewer people reported having health insurance through the first nine months of this year as the President and Republicans Trump’s threats and GOP congressional inaction have caused widespread uncertainty.
In some places insurance premiums are spiking- instead of slowly rising as had been predicted—because President Trump destabilized the marketplace by ending subsidies to cover insurance for the poor.
The CBO estimates the cost of ending the subsidies will add $6 billion to the deficit in 2018 alone.
The Trump administration has also cut the ObamaCare enrollment period in half and cut the advertising budget by 90 percent. And they are cutting money for the Navigator system to help people enroll. Our guest today says that the ACA/Obamacare is still alive and despite efforts to shut it down– Floridians might see surprsingly affordable rates in the coming year.
Our guest is Melanie Hall— is the Executive Director of the Family Health Care Foundation….and an expert in helping people navigate Obamacare.
FMI 813-995-1066; Healthcare.gov; Coveringtampabay.org
Some key points to keep in mind:
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• Open Enrollment beings on Nov. 1 and this year ends on Dec. 15. There are only six weeks for 1.7 million (or possibly more) Floridians to get signed up.
• Although there have been a lot of potential changes in the news, the ACA is still the law and there will still be plenty of plan choices available in the Tampa Bay area. 9 out of 10 Floridians can get help paying for coverage.
• If you do not have coverage, applying can take less time than you think and may be more affordable than you realize,
• If you have coverage through the Marketplace, it is very important that you go onto your account and update any information. Getting a new determination may mean getting more financial help in paying for plans for 2018.
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