With new law passed in the most recent calendar year, people who buy healthcare through Marketplace hubs are able to save more with more affordable premiums. A majority of suitors who find health plans through HealthCare.gov can fin plans for less than $10 a month.
There’s more than one way to enroll in Marketplace coverage. If you would like help from an agent or broker, or would like to enroll through one of our certified enrollment partners, you can visit here.
Don’t forget that it’s never too late to enroll with Healthedly Insurance Services for your life insurance.
Bright HealthCare announced today that it is expanding its affordable health plan options for individuals and families in North Carolina and is also growing its care network to include new Care Partners. These new health plan options are available starting Nov. 1, 2021, to individuals and families purchasing health insurance on the state based exchange. The expansion grows Bright HealthCare’s North Carolina footprint to 56 counties, reaching over 367,000 potential consumers.
Bright HealthCare, which operates in North Carolina under the corporate name Bright Health Company of North Carolina, has offered health plan options to North Carolinians since 2020 and has worked to provide affordable care to those who need it most including low-income and other vulnerable populations.
Bright HealthCare’s network includes Novant Health, Cone Health, Mission Health, Triad Healthcare Network, Duke Health, WakeMed, WakeMed Key Community Care and Vidant Health.
Bright HealthCare’s plans help people access the care they need while keeping healthcare costs low. They are designed to improve the healthcare experience through building durable, trusting two-way relationships between consumers and primary care providers.
Highlights include:
Low or no-cost premiums
Low or no-cost deductibles
Low or no-cost primary care visits
Mental health coverage
No-cost non-emergency transportation
Rewards program
Bright HealthCare, which is part of Bright Health Group (NYSE: BHG), offers health plans that serve consumers across their entire life journey, including individual and family, Medicare Advantage and employer-sponsored plans. These products are built around Integrated Systems of Care in each market and leverage Bright Health Group’s proprietary DocSquad™ technology which together have consistently shown to produce better outcomes.
The 2022 Open Enrollment Period (OEP) begins on November 1, 2021, and closes January 15, 2022. Coverage purchased by December 15 will start on January 1, 2022.
Don’t forget that it’s never too late to enroll with Healthedly Insurance Services for your health insurance coverage.
Like President Biden, Vice President Harris also believes that health care is a right, not a privilege. Together, they promised to ensure that every American has access to quality, affordable health care and the peace of mind that health insurance brings. Just weeks after taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration opened a special enrollment period through HealthCare.gov to provide all Americans the opportunity to sign up for health insurance.
Health insurance is now more affordable than ever thanks to the American Rescue Plan. Because of the law’s enhanced tax credits, nine million Americans who buy their coverage through the Affordable Care Act have lower premiums, saving families an average of $40 per person per month. Since April 1, over one-third of new and returning HealthCare.gov customers have found a quality plan with a premium of $10 or less per month, and returning HealthCare.gov consumers have seen their premiums drop, on average, by 40 percent.
This success is why it is so critical to pass the Build Back Better Agenda through budget reconciliation: to ensure that Americans can continue to take advantage of these savings.
Reducing Health Care Costs. The Build Back Better Agenda will extend the enhanced tax credits that lower premiums. Extending these lower premiums will allow nine million people to continue to save hundreds of dollars per year on their premiums, and four million uninsured people will gain coverage.
Passing the Build Back Better Agenda Is Urgent. The premium reductions in the American Rescue Plan have provided a critical lifeline for millions of people and buoyed our work to enroll consumers to date. We cannot let this critical assistance come to an end. If it expires, millions of Americans will see their premiums increase. On average, premiums would nearly double, and some Americans could see their premiums increase by thousands of dollars per year.
President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to building on this progress through the Build Back Better Agenda, which will expand on these efforts and make healthcare more accessible and affordable. Specifically, the President’s Build Back Better Agenda includes:
Expanding Medicare Coverage. Medicare today doesn’t cover dental, vision, or hearing services, with very limited exceptions. Many beneficiaries have to pay out of pocket, often costing them thousands of dollars per year. Americans who can’t afford that are forced to go without these critical services instead. That’s why it’s critical we add comprehensive dental, vision, and hearing services to Medicare, so that all beneficiaries will have affordable access to these vital health services.
Lowering Prescription Drug Costs. For every other type of health care service, Medicare works to get the best prices for American seniors. But for prescription drugs – and only prescription drugs – Medicare is prohibited by law from negotiating for the best deal. Medicare should be able to negotiate the prices it pays for prescription drugs, and drug companies that raise their prices faster than inflation should have to pay a penalty.
Closing the Medicaid Coverage Gap. The Affordable Care Act created new pathways to health coverage by expanding Medicaid. Yet, nearly 4 million people can’t get covered because they live in states that refuse to expand Medicaid. The Biden-Harris Administration believes people deserve to have the peace of mind that health insurance brings, which is why we must close the Medicaid gap by providing federally-administered coverage for people in states that refuse to expand, and therefore can’t get covered through no fault of their own.
The Biden-Harris Administration continues to do everything we can to make high quality health care more affordable and accessible. By lowering health care costs, expanding access to coverage, and enabling Medicare to negotiate prescription drugs, Congress can do its part to bring down costs and secure the health and financial security of the American people.
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
Free health insurance. If you are uninsured or you’ve been on unemployment benefits this year, please listen up. There’s new financial help passed by Congress earlier this year that means you might be eligible for health plans with zero – yes, $0 premiums. As of today, there are two weeks left to enroll during the pandemic special enrollment period, so we’ve brought in NPR health policy correspondent Selena Simmons-Duffin to explain. Hello, Selena.
SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE: Hi, Lulu.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: All right. I got to tell you free health insurance doesn’t sound like a real thing. How is it even possible?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: I know, right? But it totally is a real thing. So the free health plans come in a couple different flavors. There is Medicaid, which is the state federal public plan for low-income people. Then there’s the Affordable Care Act exchanges on healthcare.gov – there are free bronze plans. That’s the lowest tier of plans. They might be available with $0 premiums, depending on your income. And now there’s also some new things available because of the COVID relief package that passed earlier this year, including a whole new category of free plans that’s only available as of this past July. So if you have been on unemployment at any point this year, you might qualify for a very comprehensive silver plan through the end of 2021.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: All right. So we know there are around 29 million uninsured people, still, in the United States. How many of them qualify for one of those plans?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Almost half.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Ooh.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: So the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation estimates about 13 million people who are uninsured qualify for $0 premium plans.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: So this is really news you can use.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: But free plans might mean not very good plans. I mean, we’ve heard about these lower-tier plans perhaps not being the best, you know, quality. How much do these actually cover?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: So more than you might think. Previously, bronze plans with $0 premiums might have had, like, $6,000 deductibles. And that would scare people off from signing up. But another thing that’s new here is there’s new cost-sharing help for low-income people. Here’s Cynthia Cox. She’s the director of the program on the ACA at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
CYNTHIA COX: You can get zero premium and possibly even zero deductible or maybe a $100 or $200 deductible. But that’s the best type of plan that you can even get in the U.S., and really in a lot of other countries too, you know, because this is a really good deal.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: I’ve been talking to people around the country that have enrolled in some of these free plans, including Deborah Kagan (ph), who just moved to Tampa. She got a free plan on healthcare.gov because she’s been on unemployment. She was laid off from a contract furniture business last year due to the pandemic.
DEBORAH KAGAN: I got a plan that costs nothing, and it covers all my medical needs because my biggest fear was having Type 1 diabetes. Without my medication, I’m dead.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: She is thrilled and relieved and very thankful to the navigators who helped her sign up. Those are people who are trained to provide free sign-up help without pushing you a certain way or taking a commission.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: OK, so if these plans are free and provide good coverage and we know that a lot of people were on unemployment over the period of this pandemic, why would people not be signing up?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: So some people are signing up. About 2 million new people have enrolled in plans but not 13 million. So this is a big question. It is kind of a head scratcher. I’ve put the question to a lot of people, including Louise Norris. She co-owns a health insurance brokerage in Colorado and writes for healthinsurance.org. And she says sometimes people have had a bad experience or found the plans were too expensive in the past, or maybe they’re worried their doctor won’t take a new plan, or they’re not sure what documents they’ll need to sign up.
LOUISE NORRIS: There are so many little reasons that somebody might be hesitating. And when you put them all together, you end up with, you know, at least a few million people who are leaving these benefits on the table. And – but I – honestly, I would say that probably the biggest one is people just don’t know what they can get.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: So the Biden administration has put some muscle into advertising these new plans, but they’re going up against years of almost no outreach during the Trump administration. And there’s a lot of misinformation out there, too.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: All right. So two weeks to sign up – is that what’s left?
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah, that’s right. So August 15 is the deadline. Now, I should say there are lots of options beyond just these free plans for low-income people and unemployed people, including more financial help for high- and middle-income people as well. And now after the special enrollment period ends, enrollment opens again in November. The pandemic has meant enrollment is open almost the entire year. So there are lots of chances to check out plans and to sign up.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Do not leave money on the table. That is what I have always been told. That’s NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin. Thank you very much.
SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Thank you, Lulu.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOKHOV’S “MAGIC TIMES”)
To listen to the audio, visit npr.org
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When Kayla Kjelshus gave birth to her first child, the infant spent seven days in the neonatal intensive care unit, known as the NICU. This stressful medical experience was followed by an equally stressful financial one. Because of an obscure health insurance policy called the “birthday rule,” Kjelshus and her husband, Mikkel, were hit with an unexpected charge of more than $200,000 for the NICU stay.
Now, six months after Kaiser Health News and NPR published a story about the Kjelshus family’s experience, new parents may be spared this kind of financial uncertainty if lawmakers pass a bill that would give parents more control when it’s time to pick a health insurance policy for their child.
The new proposed law would eliminate the birthday rule. That rule dictates how insurance companies pick the primary insurer for a child when both parents have coverage: The parent whose birthday comes first in the calendar year covers the new baby with their plan first. For the Kjelshuses of Olathe, Kan., that meant the insurance held by Mikkel, whose birthday is two weeks before his wife’s, was primary, even though his policy was much less generous and based in a different state.
It’s an outdated policy,” Mikkel Kjelshus said. “Nowadays both parents typically have to work just to make ends meet.” Two jobs often means two offers of health insurance — and while double coverage should be a good thing, in practice, it can lead to a bureaucratic nightmare such as the one the Kjelshuses faced.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., introduced Empowering Parents’ Healthcare Choices Act, a bill that would do away with the birthday rule and a “coordination of benefits policy” that trips up first-time parents when it’s time to sign up a new baby for insurance.
“When I heard about the Kjelshus family’s story, I knew there had to be a way to help,” Davids said. “Parents should have the power when it comes to their new baby’s health care coverage.”
For Charlie Kjelshus, the birthday rule meant her dad’s plan — with a $12,000 deductible, a high coinsurance obligation and a network focused in another state — was deemed her primary coverage. Her mom’s more generous plan was secondary. Confusion over the two plans caused a tangle of red tape for the family that took almost two years and national media attention to resolve.
This model regulation was set by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and adopted by most states, including Kansas, said Lee Modesitt, director of public affairs with the Kansas Insurance Department. It is a somewhat arbitrary rule that could be fair if all jobs offered health plans with similar coverage. But for many families, one partner’s plan is much more generous.
“It feels awesome,” Mikkel Kjelshus said of the news that a change has been proposed. “We really didn’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
To be enacted, the bill would need to pass the House and Senate before receiving the president’s signature. Davids was elected to Congress in 2018, flipping a seat in Overland Park, Kan., that a Republican had held for a decade. She was reelected in 2020 and is the only Democrat in Kansas’ House delegation.
Ellie Turner, a spokesperson for the congresswoman, said Davids is talking with colleagues in the House to garner additional support.
“It’s becoming clear that the Kjelshus family is not alone in this experience,” Turner wrote in an email. “We are going to continue working to raise awareness and gain momentum for a birthday rule fix, because every family deserves a choice when it comes to their child’s health.”
As they await the arrival of their second child, this time around the Kjelshuses family have a better idea of how the health insurance will work. And, much like the first time, they feel prepared.
“We’ve got the crib. We’ve got the baby stuff. It’s a lot less stress this time around,” Mikkel Kjelshus said. “We kind of know what we’re doing.”
Bill of the Month is a crowdsourced investigation by Kaiser Health News and NPR that dissects and explains medical bills. Do you have an interesting medical bill you want to share with us? Tell us about it!
This article was originally published on npr.org on July 27th, 2021.
Written by: Cara Anthony
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These types of heart attacks are described as “silent” because when they happen, their symptoms may not seem like a classic heart attack. There may be no extreme chest pain and pressure. No stabbing jaw, neck or arm pain. No overwhelming sudden shortness of breath, dizziness or sweating.
Symptoms can pass quickly and feel mild, but silent heart attacks damage your heart and can lead to life-threatening problems. Silent signs may include:
The symptoms can easily be confused with indigestion or general aches or pains, leading men to ignore them. But a silent myocardial infarction is just as dangerous as other heart attacks.
Let your doctor know if you think you may be having symptoms. You can decide together if you need to have testing or see a heart specialist.
Take it seriously. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. The best ways to protect yourself are awareness and prevention.
Do what you can to lower your risk. The risk factors for silent heart attacks are the same as any other heart attack. They include smoking, being overweight and not exercising. Health conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels raise your risk, as does diabetes. Getting those health problems under control is important for your overall health and safety.
To lower your risk:
Don’t skip preventive health care. Men tend to go to the doctor less often than women for annual checkups, says Johns Hopkins Medicine. 
That means they may not get important routine tests for cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. Those tests help gauge heart health.
Skipping preventive exams and screenings also means men are less likely to find out if they have damage called myocardial scars from a silent heart attack. One study found that 80 percent of people who had myocardial scarring were not aware of it. And the study found that men were five times more likely to have myocardial scarring than women.
Don’t assume you’re too young to worry about it. Some men with a family history of early heart attacks can be at risk as early as their 30s or 40s. Learn your family history and talk to your doctor about it.
Ask for help. If you’re feeling depressed, don’t ignore it. Depression is linked to heart disease. Many men try to mask depression by self-medicating or other unhealthy behaviors rather than getting help. If you’ve consistently been feeling sad or hopeless for longer than a few weeks, talk to your doctor.
Manage stress. Stress can raise your blood pressure. Extreme stress can be a “trigger” for a heart attack. And some ways people cope with stress, like overeating, excessive drinking and smoking, are also bad for your heart. Better ways to address stress: working out or other active hobbies, listening to music, getting outdoors, and meditation.
Control diabetes. Having diabetes doubles your risk of heart disease, says U.S. National Library of Medicine. That’s because high blood sugar from diabetes can harm your blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart. It is vital to get tested for diabetes, and if you have it, to keep it under control.
Make time for sleep. Not getting enough sleep can also raise your risk for high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. And all of those can increase your risk for a heart attack. Most adults need at least seven hours of sleep per night. If you regularly have sleep problems, talk to your doctor.
Take steps to protect your heart and health now. And if you ever think you might be having a heart attack, don’t hesitate. Call 911 right away.
As part of the Latino Week of Action April 18 – 24, these organizations and HHS will share information with Latino consumers and use social media to encourage them to enroll in affordable, quality health plans through HealthCare.gov.
“Helping communities take advantage of reduced costs on quality health care coverage is a priority for this Department. In addition to putting our money where our mouth is, we are partnering with key organizations representing the Latino community to engage their knowledge and network to promote enrollment in quality, affordable health insurance coverage during this Special Enrollment Period,” said HHS Secretary Becerra. “To the many Latinos who may have lost health care coverage during the pandemic, I am here to tell you that ‘help is here.’ Health care coverage is more affordable for people and assistance is available if you need help finding a health plan that best meets your needs.”
Access to affordable health coverage and care is particularly important for Latinos in the US because 22% – PDF of non-elderly Latinos are uninsured, a rate almost 2.5 times that of White Americans. During this week and beyond, HHS and many organizations, including those listed below will send targeted messages, participate in earned media opportunities, and amplify the SEP through social media channels to raise awareness about the coverage options available through HealthCare.gov for the Latino community. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has also launched an outreach and an educational campaign, which includes broadcast and digital advertising and educates through email and text messages in both Spanish and English.
List of Organizations Sharing Enrollment Materials
The American Rescue Plan increased tax credits available to millions of consumers, reducing premiums and giving consumers access to affordable, quality health care coverage. 2.6 million uninsured Latino adults may be eligible to access zero-dollar plans after advance payments of premium tax credits and 3 million uninsured Latino adults may be eligible to access a plan for less than $50 per month after advance payments of premium tax credits. More than 500,000 Americans have already signed up for health coverage during the first six weeks of the SEP availability on HealthCare.gov.
Nearly 15 million Americans who currently lack health insurance and many current enrollees may be eligible to receive additional financial support in obtaining coverage through the Marketplace as part of the American Rescue Plan.
Consumers who want to enroll in coverage and see if they qualify for more affordable premiums can visit HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov to view 2021 plans and prices and, if eligible, enroll in a plan that best meets their needs. Additionally, consumers can call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596, which provides assistance in over 150 languages. TTY users can call 1-855-889-4325. Consumers can also find a local assister or agent/broker in their area by visiting:
https://localhelp.healthcare.gov. Eligible consumers can apply through HealthCare.gov through August 15, 2021, to gain access to the Special Enrollment Period to change or update their plan choices.
This article was originally published on hhs.gov on April 19, 2021.
Written by: HHS Press Office
Shop & Compare Medicare Plans today for the Special Enrollment Period (SEP) open until August 15th, 2021.
“Every American deserves access to quality, affordable health care – especially as we fight back against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Through this Special Enrollment Period, the Biden Administration is giving the American people the chance they need to find an affordable health care plan that works for them. The American Rescue Plan will bring costs down for millions of Americans, and I encourage consumers to visit HealthCare.gov and sign up for a plan before August 15.”
As a result of the American Rescue Plan, additional savings will be available for consumers through HealthCare.gov starting April 1. These savings will decrease premiums for many, on average, by $50 per person per month and $85 per policy per month. On average, one out of four enrollees on HeathCare.gov will be able to upgrade to a higher plan category that offers better out of pocket costs at the same or lower premium compared to what they’re paying today.
Consumers who want to access the SEP to enroll in coverage and see if they qualify for financial help to reduce the cost of monthly premiums, can visit HealthCare.gov or CuidadoDeSalud.gov to view 2021 plans and prices and enroll in a plan that best meets their needs. Additionally, consumers can call the Marketplace Call Center at 1-800-318-2596, which provides assistance in over 150 languages. TTY users should call 1-855-889-4325. Consumers can also find a local assister or agent/broker in their area: https://localhelp.healthcare.
Consumers who are eligible and enroll under the SEP will be able to select a plan with coverage that could start as soon as the first month after plan selection. Current enrollees will be able to change to any plan available to them in their area. To take advantage of the SEP, current enrollees should review their application and make changes, if needed, to their current information and submit their application in order to receive an updated eligibility result.
Additionally, beginning in early July on HealthCare.gov, consumers who have received or have been determined eligible to receive unemployment compensation for any week during 2021 may be able to get another increase in savings when enrolling in new Marketplace coverage or updating their existing Marketplace application and enrollment. These savings to be made available starting in early July for eligible consumers are in addition to the increased savings available to consumers on HealthCare.gov starting April 1.
The SEP is currently available to consumers in the 36 states that use the HealthCare.gov platform. Consumers served by State-based Marketplaces that use their own platform can check their state’s website to find out more information on Special Enrollment Periods in their state.
This article was originally published on hhs.gov on March 23, 2021.
Written by: HHS Press Office
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