Open Enrollment for 2020
It is that time of the year again. Open enrollment for 2020 is upon us and there is no better time than right now to evaluate your health insurance needs. There can be many reasons why you would want to shop around for new plans. Maybe you are taking a new prescription that is too expensive on your current plan. Is your doctor recommending a surgery or new medical service? Are you paying too much for your plan and never using it? These are examples of questions that you should ask yourself during this time. You cannot switch plans during the year and having the wrong insurance policy until 2021 could be very costly. Depending on how old you are, you will have different timelines to make a change.
Over 65 and Enrolled in Medicare
If you are in this group, open enrollment is actually called the annual enrollment period or AEP. This is the times where you can enroll in or switch to a Medicare Advantage plan or a Prescription Drug plan. If you currently have either of these, you can make a new selection with your current carrier or switch carriers entirely. If you are not on either of these plans, then you will certainly want to look at some options. Many Medicare Advantage plans do not have a monthly premium and they include drug coverage. You may also have a Medicare Supplement policy also known as a Medigap plan. While there is no annual enrollment period for these plans, you can still switch to a Medicare Advantage plan and terminate your current policy. AEP goes from October 15th to December 7th.
Under Age 65
There are two main ways to purchase health insurance during open enrollment for 2020. You can either purchase a private health insurance plan or enroll in a subsidized plan with Nevada Health Link. Purchasing a private plan is very similar to signing up for any other monthly subscription. You simply need information such as your date of birth and address to enroll. To purchase a subsidized plan, you will need to know how much money you will be earning in 2020. This is because the price of your plan is based on where you fall on the Federal Poverty Level or FPL for short. However much you earn will determine how much of a subsidy you get from the government.
Please give our office a call if you are interested in seeing plans or if you need help on how to enroll. We do not charge any fees for our services as your health insurance broker and can help determine the best plan for you.
