You covered? Gov’ment says you gotta get health insurance…

Its a law, all 20,000 plus pages of the healthcare reform bill.  And the law says everyone must be covered by health insurance… whether through an employer or individual coverage. 

Don’t want to?  You will face some penalties come April 15th.   The amounts aren’t huge, but could sure put a damper on those plans to use your tax refund to head to Panama City Beach for vaca.   And the penalties are scheduled to increase steadily each year, BTW.  For the 2015 tax year your penalty will be the greater of:

2% of your yearly household income above $10,150 for an individual, or

$325 per person for the year ($162.50 per child under 18). The maximum penalty per family is $975.

Those penalties will come out of your refund (if you are to get one) or your pocket if you don’t.

There is one major reason to get covered even though you are perfectly healthy right now, etc, etc.  such as:

Your health could change

1. You could get hit by a car while you are texting and driving (you KNOW you have done it but please don’t, just put the phone in the back seat)
2. A big spider could bite you (don’t sleep under the porch and be sure to check under the covers before you get in bed)
3. You could simply get an illness you weren’t expecting at your age.  It happens.

And when you need to go to the hospital and/or see a doctor, you can’t just hope you will get better.  You only have one body and it does, last I checked, have an expiration date for all of us.  You just don’t want to more that date forward.

Maybe you are thinking you can just head to the emergency room or go to a free clinic if you need medical help.  Sounds good, right?  Uh, no.

An emergency room does have to treat you regardless of your ability to pay, but please note that I said “Treat” not “Free”.  You WILL still receive a bill.  Astronomical.  It is actually more of a trick than a treat.  And I promise you, it WILL be a huge one.  You will not only be surprised, but you will be a very angry 70 year old still eating ramen noodles for dinner because of that mistake.

Or you will have to declare bankruptcy, ruin your credit for 7 years and not be able to buy a house or car during that time.  BTW, the number one cause of personal bankruptcies in this country is due to unexpected medical expenses that can literally wipe you out in a moment.   Seven years is a long time when you are in your 20’s.

And as for free clinics,  they do not cover everything out there that can go wrong with your body.  Usually they only handle the minor illness stuff like colds, ear aches, or stuff like hurt fingers.  They do NOT cover emergencies, surgeries or long term care for chronic illnesses like diabetes and cancer.  You are on your own there, and when you do seek care, you CAN expect bills, lots and lots of bills, collection calls, liens on your home, etc.  And more ramen noodles.  I mean they are tasty and all, but I really don’t think you want to or can live off them forever.

Don’t take the chance or your health or your future financial security.  Just buy the danged  insurance.

So lecture over, you know you need healthcare coverage.  Yes, it is another expense.  And it is still expensive.    If you make under $40,000 or so you may quality for a subsidy…that is,  the government may pay all or some of your healthcare premium.

But please let the buyer beware: if you make more than the amount you estimated you would make for the year, you will, by law, have to pay some or all of the subsidy back!  With penalties!

This is definitely overwhelming.  So how do you go about getting signed up? 

If your employer offers health insurance, sign up.  No brainer there.  It is TONS cheaper to get insurance through your employer because they usually pay most of the premium for you.  If you are not signed up now, ask your Human Resources department when ‘open enrollment’ is and make darned sure you take advantage of it.

If you are not employed or your employer does not offer health insurance, go see a licensed health insurance agent.  It does not cost you anything to go through an agent -the insurance company pays them, not you.  You pay the exact same rate as if you were buying directly from the company but the agent can help you avoid all the minefields and get you the best coverage for your needs.

You can go here too and get some idea of the plans available in your area…

https://www.healthcare.gov/

Please note too that there are only certain times of the year you can sign up for health premium subsidized health insurance (if you qualify).  There may be special events (called ‘qualifying events’) that allow you to get covered at other times of the year.  An agent will help you with this as well.

Not all health agents do what is called “individual insurance” but most, if they don’t, can and will refer you to someone who does.  A very reputable, reliable national resource to search for licensed agents in your area is through the National Association of Health Underwriters:

http://www.nahu.org/consumer/findagent2.cfm

National Assoc of Health Underwriters agent search

Get covered.  It is uber important for your health and your financial future.