You still have time to enroll into a Marketplace plan through the Affordable Care Act! President Biden extended the deadline back to its original date of January 15th so that Americans have the intended three-month enrollment period. For the 2022 plan year, there are new, lower costs on Marketplace coverage. You may be able to get more savings and lower costs on Marketplace health insurance coverage due to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
So what does this mean for you? Even if you have shopped for coverage before on healthcare.gov, you may want to take a second look because this year more emphasis has been placed on cost-sharing and the premium tax credit. It also means that more people than ever before qualify for help paying for health coverage, even those who weren’t eligible in the past. In addition to that, most people currently enrolled in a Marketplace plan may qualify for more tax credits.
Still not quite seeing plans within your budget even after your premium tax credit and cost-sharing incentives are factored in? One way to manage your health care expenses is by enrolling in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) in combination with opening a Health Savings Account (HSA). There are many ways in which High Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts can reduce your costs. This option should only be considered if you do not have any chronic conditions and do not frequently get health services done however because the point of these plans is to reduce your upfront monthly payments.
In other words, if you enroll in an HDHP, you may pay a lower monthly premium but have a higher deductible (meaning you pay for more of your health care items and services before the insurance plan pays). This is where the HSA comes into effect because if you combine your HDHP with an HSA, you can pay that deductible, plus other qualified medical expenses, using the money you set aside in your tax-free HSA.
In summary, if you have an HDHP and don’t need many health care items and services, you may benefit from a lower monthly premium, and if you need more care, you’ll save by using the tax-free money in your HSA to pay for it. Additionally, your HSA balance rolls over year to year, so you can build up reserves to pay for health care items and services you need later. However, if you are someone that has more extensive healthcare needs, then you may want to look at a more traditional health plan that balances some of your costs into the monthly premium you will pay.
