5 bits of good news about health insurance
Good news item 1: Lower monthly costs for many people
For people who get insurance through their jobs, their monthly cost may go up for 2023. But millions of people with other kinds of insurance will actually pay less every month in 2023:
• People covered by traditional Medicare will see a slight drop in their monthly cost and their deductible
• People with any type of Medicare who have diabetes and need insulin to control their blood sugar will now pay no more than $35 per month for their insulin. The $35 cap takes effect on Jan. 1, 2023 for regular insulin and July 1, 2023 for the kind used in insulin pumps.
You might have also heard about other Medicare changes that will reduce prescription drug costs. These won’t take effect in 2023, but they’re coming for 2024 and beyond.
Good news item 2: More preventive care covered for everyone
Most health insurance plans have to cover certain preventive health care services for certain people - without charging the patient anything. Follow these links to see the new lists of services:
For adults: www.healthcare.gov/preventive...
For women only: www.healthcare.gov/preventive...
For children: www.healthcare.gov/preventive...
Good news item 3: More plans to choose from
If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, or you bought your insurance on healthcare.gov, it will probably get automatically renewed if you don’t do anything by the December deadline. But even if you’re happy with it, you should still take time to look at all your options - you may find something even better.
Good news item 4: A way to cover family members for less
A change made this year means that you may now qualify to get insurance through healthcare.gov and cover any member of your immediate family who needs coverage. The new rule only kicks in if the cost of covering yourself and your family members on your job-related insurance would add up to more than 9% of your income.
Good news item 5: More time to transition from Medicaid if your income has gone up
Because of the pandemic, it’s been two years since states required people with Medicaid to prove their income is still low enough to keep the coverage. This special situation will continue into at least January 2023, as long as the federal government’s pandemic ‘public health emergency’ rules stay in place. But as soon as the special rules are lifted, states will have to start a process of asking people to prove their current income again.
No one knows yet when this change will take place. But before it does, if you have Medicaid, make sure your contact information is up to date with the Medicaid agency in the state you live in. You don’t want to miss important mail when it arrives.
In Michigan, log in to MI Bridges to update your information,
newmibridges.michigan.gov/s/i...
or call your local MDHHS office for help. If you receive mail from the state, or your Medicaid plan, be sure to open it and fill out and return any forms promptly.
Use the calculator on this page to find out if you will qualify for Medicaid in your state for 2023.
www.healthcare.gov/medicaid-c...
Important deadlines for enrolling
• December 15: For people who buy their own insurance through healthcare.gov (or a state-level website in states that offer one) and want to have coverage start January 1.
• January 15: For people buying their own insurance who want to have coverage starting February 1.
Where to get health insurance help
• The Michigan Medicine team can help anyone in Michigan, even if they don’t get care at a U-M clinic or hospital. Call (877) 326-9155 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday - Friday, or email PFC-Counselors@med.umich.edu.
• Michiganders can also turn to Michigan Medicare/Medicaid Assistance Program.
mmapinc.org
• Anyone in the United States can turn to local helpers listed in the Local Help section localhelp.healthcare.gov
or, for Medicare assistance, to the State Health Insurance Assistance Program run by their local Area Agency on Aging. www.shiphelp.org
Read the FULL article:
healthblog.uofmhealth.org/wel...