Helpful Health Care Links: October 24, 2014

Doctor and Patient 2This week, our helpful health care links focus on two main topics — what you need to know about all of the Ebola talk going around in the news and some important things to consider about looking health insurance open enrollment deadlines. We also included a fun story from ABC News about some strange-but-true health tips. All are worth your time. And, as always, if you ever come across a healthcare story that you think merits more attention, please send it our way!

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Only 11 Percent of Uninsured Know About Obamacare’s Next Open Enrollment (New York Times)

Open Enrollment is coming up in November, but a recent survey of the nation’s uninsured shows that only 11% of this demographic are aware of when Open Enrollment takes place.

As Researchers Develop Ebola Vaccine, Early Human Clinical Trials Show Promise (Washington Post)

Clinical trials on a new Ebola vaccine are considering it safe, but testing in areas of West Africa where the disease is prominent may be difficult.

6 Strange-But-True Health Tips (ABC News)

We are always trying to find ways to stay healthy. Here are 6 Tips that you may have never thought of.

Ebola Q&A: National Expert Jeffrey Band on Risks, Hospital Preparation in Michigan (Crains Detroit)

See what Jeffrey Band (Chairman of Epidemiology at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital) has to say about the risks of the Ebola epidemic reaching Michigan and how Beaumont Hospital is preparing.

How to Pick the Right Health Plan for 2015 (Wall Street Journal)

There are many changes taking place this Open Enrollment with regards to employer-sponsored healthcare plans. Make sure you are aware of the changes and which plan will best suit your medical needs.

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Four Things About ObamaCare That Are Good for Everyone

Obama Care HeadlineMany people disagree about whether the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — most commonly known as ObamaCare — is good or bad for healthcare patients. However, there are some parts of ObamaCare, which are often forgotten, that help everyone.

What are they? Here are four of the most significant positive changes the Act is responsible for:

  1. Elimination of pre-existing conditions:  Prior to ObamaCare, many people had no insurance coverage for something called “pre-existing conditions.”  For example, if you had cancer or a complication from a surgery and then changed insurance companies, the new insurance company formerly would deny these type of claims saying they were “pre-existing conditions.”  Because of this problem, many employees would not move to take a new job for fear they would not have insurance coverage for the things they needed.  Under ObamaCare, this problem is eliminated.  An insurance company can no longer use this as an excuse for no coverage.
  2. Insurance coverage for your children through age 26:  Another big change is that young adults can now stay on their parent’s insurance until they reach the age of 26.  The child does not to show they are in school nor living with their parents.  Prior to ObamaCare, most insurance plans only allowed the child to have coverage until they reached the age of 18 or were in school.
  3. Elimination of Life-Time limits:  Prior to ObamaCare, insurance companies had a “life-time limit” for each person who had insurance.  If you had cancer or several different health problems, you could easily hit your life time limit and would find yourself with no insurance coverage.  Under ObamaCare, life-time limits have been eliminated.  Now if you have cancer that may reoccur over many years, you don’t have to worry about your cancer AND whether you will lose your insurance also.
  4. Preventive Care is now covered:  Many people are surprised to discover that prior to ObamaCare most preventive medical care was not covered by your insurance.  Historically, insurance covered you when you were sick, not when you were well.  This is silly, as preventative care often prevents you from getting sick. Without coverage, many people would not go for their annual checkups or their yearly mammograms. Now, under ObamaCare, preventative services are covered. Every insurance plan must cover certain basic services so you no longer need to worry about getting a big bill from the doctor.

We can all continue to examine ObamaCare and determine whether it requires significant changes, but we can all agree that certain basic ObamaCare benefits are good for everyone.

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What Will You Pay Back under ObamaCare?

Health Care CashEarlier this month marked the deadline to verify income to avoid losing, or having to pay back federal health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or ObamaCare). 300,000 people are expected to be affected by this income verification problem, and will be paying back subsidies to the government.

The big problem? Most people are not aware that they received advance tax credits under ObamaCare, but they will still be responsible for paying the government back.

During the 2015 tax season, Americans will be expected to pay back any subsidies they received, for which they were not eligible.

Are you at risk?

People at risk of having to pay back subsidies include:

1. Those who obtained coverage on HealthCare.gov, and did not provide additional income information that melds with IRS data; and
2. Those whose income changed during the year, and who failed to update their information.

An additional 115,000 people may lose their existing coverage for failure to provide the required documents verifying citizenship or immigration status.

Note – the deadline applied only to applicants who purchased coverage on the federal marketplace. However, hundreds of thousands of additional people who got health coverage through state exchanges could also be receiving subsidies for which they are not eligible.

But what will this cost you?

Certain low earners may face limited repayments ranging from $300.00 to $2,500.00, but higher earners will have to pay back the subsidies in full.

If you fall into one of the above categories, you may be able to deduct some, or all, of the repayment from your 2015 tax refund. If you are not expecting a refund, or if your refund is not enough to cover the repayment, you can expect to write a check to the government.

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HS-Book_Covers_OCaresmallAre you looking to cut through all the noise and find out what ObamaCare really is, what it does, and, most importantly, what it means to you? MyHealthSpin’s “Easy Healthcare: ObamaCare” ebook guide leaves the politics behind and gives you a straightforward, timely rundown of the changes the law made and whether or not they impact YOU.

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