City Hall will be holding an open enrollment for healthcare today, January 9, 2016, until 5:00 pm. All are invited to join enrollees in the Council Chambers to set themselves on the right track to having the right plan. However, if you cannot make it today, you are urged to call (201) 547-6800 to schedule an enrolling appointment. Those without healthcare will have until January 31^st to enroll in a plan that fits them.

 

Tanya Santos, Healthier JC Consultant, explained that “A lot of people are afraid to enroll in healthcare plans because they are too expensive and they don’t realize they have a lot of options. They end up enrolling online and at home, once they hit a wall they call the Marketplace. Through calling the Marketplace, they might only get two plans for their situation. By enrolling through me or one of my enrollees, they could get twenty-seven plans. There are different situations around the system so you can select the best one for you and your family.”

Santos also explained that owners of small businesses could swiftly enroll during this period. Instead of purchasing a huge plan for their employees, owners could purchase individual plans. Small businesses can pay per employee and each plan will depend on the number of employees including the hours that they work. The enrollees will be able to guide small business owners into finding a plan that fits them and their employees right.

“A lot of people don’t realize that they qualify for State Healthcare while it sounds like Welfare it definitely is not,” said Tanya. “Say you have a family of five and you make under $95,000. The parents won’t qualify for the healthcare, but the children will. This process can be done mostly online and documents are often requested by mail.”

Santos explained the top three health insurance terms that people may be familiar with but don’t truly know the definition for. “A lot of people aren’t educated about how insurance works,

1. Minimum Premium Payment – The monthly payment to be covered. Some plans have a deductible amount of money that you pay before the insurance covering payments.
2. Co-Pay – A lot of people are familiar with this term, this is set for specialist or family doctor visits. When you enroll yourself into a plan, there is something called a tax subsidy which means if you have a deductible on your taxes, they apply to your monthly premium. Therefore, it’s very probably that if you are set to pay $500 you may only need to pay $100. This is the advantage of seeing it on a computer and being assisted and having twenty-seven options opposed to the two you would have over the phone with the Marketplace.
3. Co-Insurance – This is when you pay a percentage for medical services. If you have a doctor’s and the bill comes out to $200, at a discounted rate your Co-Insurance is 70/30 which means you will pay for 30% of your visit. In this case, you will only pay $30 for a $200 visit. Without Co-Insurance, you would be required to pay for the whole visit.”

Santos urges all to visit or call for an appointment for enrollment. “Again, there are no extensions past January 31^st. Time is running out and if you enroll before January 15^th you will get full coverage on February 1^st, however if you enroll between the 16^th and the 31^st you will not get coverage until March. If you don’t get health insurance you will be taxed 2% of your entire income or $325 per income earner and 50% for each child in your household. If you can’t make it today, give us a call at (201) 547-6800.”