What if my individual health insurance plan is changing or being cancelled?
HealthCare.gov, Accessed December 20, 2013
If your insurance company cancels your plan, you have several options:
* Buy one of the plans the company offers in its place.
* Buy a new plan in the Marketplace.
* Buy a plan outside the Marketplace.
Additional option if your plan is cancelled: A catastrophic plan
If your plan has been cancelled and you canāt afford a Marketplace plan to replace it, you can apply for a hardship exemption. This will allow you to buy a catastrophic plan. A catastrophic plan generally requires you to pay all of your medical costs up to a certain amount, usually several thousand dollars. These policies usually have lower premiums than a comprehensive plan, but cover you only if you need a lot of care. They basically protect you from worst-case scenarios.
http://www.healthcare.gov/what-if-my-current-individual-plan-is-changing-or-not-being-offered-in-2014/
Comment:
By Don McCanne, M.D.
As the numerous reports in the media indicate, the insurance industry is not particularly pleased with the prospect of a large influx of older and sicker individuals enrolling in the catastrophic plans designed and priced for healthy individuals under age 30. Instability is an inherent characteristic of such a dysfunctional financing system.
This rule modification is simply one more reason why we need to enact a simplified, more affordable, and more effective health care financing system – an improved Medicare for all.
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