How Health Care Reform Affects Individual Health Insurance Ohio

Ohio is one of the 26 states which are challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 provision which requires all Americans to purchase health insurance starting in 2014 or pay a fine. Two years after the law was passed, there are still many questions being raised about its ability to make individual health insurance Ohio more affordable. Here’s why: • Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) may become more expensive. HSAs combine a high-deductible health plan with a tax-preferred savings account. The cost of HSAs may go up under Obamacare and people with these plans may have to look for other more expensive coverage. The impact on Ohio will be quite serious as it is one of the states with the highest levels of HSA/HDHP enrollment at 728, 8681. • Grandfathered plans will lose their status, though Obamacare promised that they would not. This means that even people who are satisfied with their current Ohio individual health insurance plans may not be protected from the regulations of the new law. • The Affordable Care Act makes it necessary for many Ohio individual health insurance plans to pay in full for preventive health services, immunizations, and screenings. But many preventive services are not free and may, in fact, raise premiums by about 1.5 percent. • The states were asked to examine “unreasonable” rate increases to control premiums. But there is no clear definition of the term “unreasonable” and how the rate review has to be carried out. Grants being given for expanding rate reviews are now being seen as a waste of tax payer dollars. • Obamacare plans to make individual health insurance easier to find and buy through health exchanges in 2014. But it is pointed out that this program will lead to higher taxes on those who already have coverage to subsidize the cost of insurance for others who don’t. • Starting 2014, health insurance Ohio cannot be denied based on a pre-existing condition. This may make health insurance easier to obtain for most people, but it will raise the cost of premiums for many others.

Whether you are in good health or not, it’s time to consider your future and your options for individual health insurance Ohio. Going without health insurance is a medical, as well as financial risk. Professional guidance from a licensed health insurance broker based in the state will help you purchase an affordable plan to keep you and your family covered.