Monthly Premiums For A 'Benchmark' Silver Plan In Federally Run Insurance Marketplaces

Here we are one day before the October 1 enrollment through the Federal Marketplaces begins for those of you who are under the age of 65 and do not receive insurance through your employer.

I still do not have actual pricing from any of my carriers in Missouri or Kansas yet, so advising people as to what to do has been difficult, if not impossible. 

Some of you who have "grandfathered" plans - meaning your plan effective date was prior to March 23, 2010 - can keep the plan you currently have.

Those of you who do not have a "grandfathered" plan may be able to keep your existing policy for an additional year, depending on how your existing carrier is handling things.  In these cases you may have received a letter already indicating that this option will be available to you and that you'll simply sign an addendum in December, most likely, and agree to a small rate increase at that time.  This would allow you to continue with your plan through the end of December 2014.

Depending on what the new plan pricing looks like, the options above may be appealing.

Those of you who feel you will qualify for Federal subsidies will have to apply through the exchanges to receive the federal money.

I am certified to sell policies within the exchanges, but do not know what that process will look like yet, since the exchanges (or marketplaces, as the Federal Government is referring to them) do not exist yet.  Supposedly these will be online tomorrow, October 1.

Once I have detailed plan & pricing information, I'll share that with all of my individual and family clients.

The article from the Kaiser Foundation this morning offers an idea of what a Silver plan may cost in various "areas" within a state where the Federal Marketplace will be offering plans.  You can see that here . . .Benchmarks for Silver Plans through the Marketplaces.

Simply find your county and you'll see how rates compare with other areas of your state.

Within this article you'll also see the link for the subsidy calculator where you can play around with your numbers to see what might happen in real time once the Federal Marketplaces are operational.

Once I see that enrollments are going smoothly I'll discuss options with my clients.  In the meantime, I'd advise waiting to see how the initial launch goes, before making changes.  (but, that's just my opinion . . . .)