Health Insurance Nevada
Finding the best Health Insurance Nevada plans for you, your family or your group can be difficult. This is a task that you may want to delegate to a Nevada Health Insurance Broker. Health Benefits Associates is a local insurance brokerage. We have been doing business here in the Reno area for over 30 years. Our office can help you find the best health insurance plan at the lowest cost. Health Benefits Associates also has access to all health insurance companies doing business in Nevada. Most of all, our services as a health insurance broker come to you at no cost.
Health Insurance Nevada plans can be very complicated. They are also constantly changing rates and benefits. Trying to compare plans from different health insurance companies can be a daunting task. If you make the wrong choice, you may have to keep this plan for the rest of the year. There are only a few exceptions that will allow you to change your plan during the year.
Since the Affordable Care Act, all health insurance companies must change their plans every year. They change them for individuals, families, and health insurance small business plans. This makes sure that their plans come into compliance with one of the four levels of coverage. The Affordable Care Act mandates this rule. These four levels include bronze, silver, gold, as well as platinum benefits. Each and every plan must cover the same set of 10 essential health benefits.
The ten essential health benefits include:
Ambulatory patient services
Hospitalization
Emergency Services
Maternity and newborn care
Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment
Prescription drugs
Rehabilitative and habilitative services (those that help patients acquire, maintain, or improve skills necessary for daily functioning) and devices
Laboratory services
Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
Pediatric services, including oral and vision care
All legal plans must have these ten benefits. In addition, Health Insurance Nevada companies modify their plans annually. The deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and out of pocket maximums can change quite a bit. This happens from one calendar year to the next.
The deductible is the amount that you pay before your insurance plan starts to pay.
A copayment is the fixed amount that you pay for a covered health care service. Usually, this is after you have satisfied your deductible. Some plans offer copayments that come before the deductible. Coinsurance is the percentage of the expense that you pay after you have satisfied your deductible. Your maximum out-of-pocket refers to the total cost that you would be responsible to pay. This includes the deductible, copayments, and co-insurance. After you reach this point, the insurance company starts paying 100% of the claims. This resets at the end of the plan year. The amounts to reach your max out of pocket can vary. Higher tier plans will also have lower max out of pockets.
Health insurance companies make changes to their deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance.
They also make changes to the maximum out-of-pocket amounts on the first day of every year. This is so they are inline with one of the bronze, silver, gold, or platinum benefit platforms. A lot of unexpected things can happen to the insured member. Most of the time, the new plan doesn’t have the same benefits as the prior year. In addition, the price of the new plan almost always goes up. Unfortunately, the insured member does not have the option to keep their old plan. All insurance companies must terminate their individual and family plans on December 31st of each year. This is when the new year’s plans come into effect.
Individual and family plans that are in force today will have a renewal date of January 1st, 2019. The substituted 2019 plan will have new benefits and rates. Although, this is only true if the insurance company is still offering individual and family plans in Nevada. The benefits and rates for the new 2019 Health Insurance Nevada plans will not change. They will also remain the same for the entire 2019 calendar year. The rate for your chosen plan will be based on your age on January 1st, 2019. Insurance companies must keep the benefits the same for the entire 2019 calendar year for whichever plan you select.
Since Obamacare started, most insurance companies have stopped selling Health Insurance Nevada plans.
Only one company that left the market kept their rates and benefits in force for all of last year. There were many companies that left during 2017. The list included Assurant, Aetna, Humana, Golden Rule, Anthem, Sierra Life and Health (outside Clark County) and Prominence. Unfortunately, the Nevada Health Co-Op was not able to make it through the calendar year. Also, Co-Op left some participants with unpaid medical claims.
If your current company leaves the market, you are not out of luck. You can always move to a new company at the end of the year. This can be done as long as you make an application during open enrollment. This starts on November 1st and goes through December 15th.
The Open Enrollment period for individual and family plans is between November 1st and December 15th, 2018.
Everyone, including applicants that have not experienced a life event, can make an application for health insurance. You can do this during the six-week period, and you will have a January 1st, 2019 start date. Everyone that has a current 2018 Obamacare plan in force has the opportunity to select a new plan for 2019. Insurance companies will automatically renew your plan to the closest mapped 2019 option.
You must either select a new plan or declare you are ending coverage to avoid this.
During the Open Enrollment period, everyone should be sure to pay attention to the plan options. This is the only time of the year that you can change your Reno health insurance plan. No one can switch plans during the year unless they experience a Qualifying Life Event. A Qualifying Life Event is a change in your insurance situation. This includes losing health insurance at work, marriage, or moving to a new state. If you do experience a Qualified Life Event you will be eligible for a Special Enrollment Period (SEP). If you qualify, you have 60 days from the day you lost coverage to enroll in a new plan.
Feel free to call our office anytime if you have any questions. Our brokers are here to assist clients during the year. We want to ensure you find the right plan to fit your needs. We have helped many clients over the years while we strive to be a continued source of information and support. Our office number is (775) 828-1216. Our website is also a great source of info to find quick answers.
