Thursday, March 14, 2013

The Obamacare Application . . . Revisited

The folks in DC are hard at work trying to make applying for Obamacare a lot easier. The Kaiser Health News critters give us Dick and Jane Sign up for the Exchange . . . complete with 2 easy to follow video's.
The 21-page written application is printed in a fetching orange color. CMS estimates it will take 45 minutes to complete. 
Only 45 minutes . . .

And how do you feel after 45 minutes of your life that you will never see again if it turns out you are not eligible for premium subsidy?

At least the folks at KHN are trying to save you some time.

From the comments section:

Rebecca: Yes, you can buy a policy on the exchange. A related question is whether you will qualify for the APTC (the tax credit commonly mislabeled “subsidy”) which will probably reduce your monthly insurance cost. Here is a short decision tree that will work for most people:
—Are you eligible for a government insurance program? (Medicare, Medicaid, Tri-Care, etc)? If “yes”, you are not eligible for the tax credit.—Are you eligible for an employer group insurance plan? If “no”, you may be eligible for a tax credit. If “yes”, go to Q3.—If the answer to #2 is “yes”, then Q3: Is that plan “good enough” and “cheap enough”? If “yes”, then you are not eligible for the tax credit. If “no” you may be eligible for the tax credit.
If you’ve gotten this far, then you need to know your Adjusted Gross Income. If that amount is less than 4 times the Federal Poverty Level–about $45,000 for a single–then you will qualify for the tax credit. 
Wonder if Seinfeld's Soup Nazi will be working on the exchange?
No subsidy for you! Next!

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