[Happinow]

Before putting the pen to paper, I have called my health care providers, Colony Health Care and Palm Ridge Dental and they do bill our insurance. So we are covered. With our insurance there is no copay and no deductible so no worries there. There are things USHealth doesn't cover but no health insurance covers everything, but this insurance covers what is important to us. We had some questions today about our plan and called Marlon and he returned our call in a very timely fashion. My mind is at ease and I feel better about my health insurance. 😀😀😀

[tumbleweed]

According to A.M. Best, the long-standing rating organization for insurance companies, USHealth Group and the related companies market "ACA exempt supplemental" health insurance. The following is copy from a recent Best report which may help interested parties in making their health insurance decision.

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OLDWICK - APRIL 22, 2015
A.M. Best has upgraded the issuer credit ratings to "bb+" from "bb" and affirmed the financial strength rating of B (Fair) of the subsidiaries of USHEALTH Group, Inc.: Freedom Life Insurance Company of America (Freedom Life) and National Foundation Life Insurance Company (NFL) (referred to collectively as USHEALTH Group). The outlook for all ratings has been revised to positive from stable. All companies are domiciled in Fort Worth, TX.
The rating upgrades reflect USHEALTH Group's diversified revenue growth in Affordable Care Act (ACA) exempt supplemental health lines of business, strong operating results and improved capitalization. The company has successfully identified and reached the underserved segment of this market. USHEALTH Group remains focused on further expanding its ancillary product offerings, developing captive distribution in new geographies and maintaining long-term customer relationships as a means of increasing its scale and brand recognition in the marketplace. In addition, during 2014 and in the first quarter of 2015, the holding company significantly improved its financial flexibility through debt refinancing on more favorable terms and accelerated debt repayment. Additionally, the outlook revision to positive reflects A.M. Best's opinion that the USHEALTH Group is positioned for future profitable growth and enhanced financial flexibility.
Partially offsetting these positive rating factors is the challenge to maintain the growth in supplemental medical products. Additionally, future revenue expansion is tied to USHEALTH Group's ability to grow its captive agency force, which A.M. Best views as a significant competitive advantage. Moreover, the debt at USHEALTH Group, Inc., although substantially reduced, is still supported by operating company dividends, which may hamper capital and surplus growth at Freedom Life and NFL.
A.M. Best believes that future positive rating actions for USHEALTH Group may result from organic earnings growth, further reduction in leverage throughout the organization, continued strong operating results and growth of risk-adjusted capitalization at each of the subsidiaries. Future negative rating actions could occur due to weakened operating performance, increased financial leverage or deterioration of risk-adjusted capitalization levels."

Those interested should be aware that they most likely will be subject to penalties for not having ACA qualifying coverage and also should note that Best's only assigns a B "Fair" credit rating. Financial strength- or lack of it- can be a factor in claims evaluation and payment practices. I have no dog in this fight, either, but suggest due diligence in health insurance matters.

[CathyandSteveG]

Thank you very much for this information. I am 60...my husband is 62....we presently have our home on the market and plan to retire and move to the villages as soon as our home sells.

One of the great unknowns for us will be the cost of health insurance. Quite frankly...we are scared to death. We have been trying to figure out the best company to go with and the type of coverage to get.

[RickeyD]

Originally Posted by Happinow

It seemed that I just posted this thread just under 2 hours ago and then the threads were consolidated. I think this could be very helpful and important information and I would like people to see it. Adorable Health insurance for those of us under 65 is hard to find. I hope this helps at least one person.

...

[gomoho]

I can tell you if you are under 65 and not eligible for Medicare and have enough cash on hand to live off of and can show no income or low income like social security only you can make out quite well with Obamacare. They do not look at your assests - only your income. No, I am not doing this I am on medicare, but have friends that were able to take advantage of this exact situation. And no it is not fraud - all questions the government thought necessary to ask were answered honestly. They just never thought to include assests in their questions. And we wonder why this country is in trouble!

[Abby10]

Originally Posted by RickeyD

I don't think this country is in trouble because they don't ask the right questions. I don't think it's in trouble at all. Now, WWII, that's trouble, the twin towers falling, that's trouble. American business sending our jobs overseas , that's trouble. Having real people buying health coverage over a government website, not trouble at all.

I think the point that gomoho is making is that our country is headed into deep financial trouble because of the exact scenario that she presents. She is correct that assets are not taken into consideration, so a lot of people who are early retirees are eligible. Many people in there 50's and early 60's who have lost their jobs prematurely due to downsizing, the changing economy, etc, are now eligible for insurance through the ACA with a subsidy. The problem is that it is beginning to put such a huge strain on the funding available for this program that it most likely will not be able to sustain itself. The better solution would have been an effort to keep people employed, thereby obtaining their insurance through their employer until medicare kicks in. I will stop here as I don't wish this to get political. This is a very important conversation and one that I would like to see continue with the sharing of ideas and experiences. Thanks again to the OP for starting this thread.

[RickeyD]

Originally Posted by Abby10

I think the point that gomoho is making is that our country is headed into deep financial trouble because of the exact scenario that she presents. She is correct that assets are not taken into consideration, so a lot of people who are early retirees are eligible. Many people in there 50's and early 60's who have lost their jobs prematurely due to downsizing, the changing economy, etc, are now eligible for insurance through the ACA with a subsidy. The problem is that it is beginning to put such a huge strain on the funding available for this program that it most likely will not be able to sustain itself. The better solution would have been an effort to keep people employed, thereby obtaining their insurance through their employer until medicare kicks in. I will stop here as I don't wish this to get political. This is a very important conversation and one that I would like to see continue with the sharing of ideas and experiences. Thanks again to the OP for starting this thread.

Well, I do have a dog in this fight. Wife and myself will be retiring early and will need the ACA to bridge us over to Medicare. The ACA makes this possible. I know what I'm about to say will **** many people off for a variety of reasons, but here goes.. I've never taken a handout from any person or government entity, I served in the USN as was my duty. I feel that with all the malingerers taking handouts I'll stick my hand out just this one time. Hell, I could be dead in five years, I just want to retire a little bit earlier.

[Abby10]

Originally Posted by RickeyD

Well, I do have a dog in this fight. Wife and myself will be retiring early and will need the ACA to bridge us over to Medicare. The ACA makes this possible. I know what I'm about to say will **** many people off for a variety of reasons, but here goes.. I've never taken a handout from any person or government entity, I served in the USN as was my duty. I feel that with all the malingerers taking handouts I'll stick my hand out just this one time. Hell, I could be dead in five years, I just want to retire a little bit earlier.

Rickey - I agree with all that you say and apologize if I came off in anyway that I was attacking you and/or your decisions. My post was just an attempt to explain what I think gomoho may have meant by "trouble". Truth be told, my husband and I are currently on insurance through the ACA, although not necessarily by choice. We both lost our jobs within 1 year of each other because of cutbacks, and our biggest expense was healthcare. Luckily, over the years we lived frugally enough to be in a position to pay for our living expenses otherwise, but we struggled to continue paying our healthcare premium. We are just one of many examples of people who are able to get subsidies (although we did not even know that when we applied for insurance) because we currently have so little income and assets are not considered. Our plan was not to retire so young, but who would have thought that times would change so drastically. Ironically we are both in the healthcare field and in many areas they are doing with less workers. To top it off there is a LOT of ageism going on. Unfortunately, experience and dedication are not valued in the workplace anymore and jobs (at least full-time ones with benefits) are scarce. So, I speak from direct experience, although I am not entirely comfortable with the choice we had to make. I do not see how it will sustain itself as it currently operates and welcome other ideas and/or avenues for the future as we have quite a few more years until Medicare. It is not easy being in your 50's these days - I'm just thankful that we were not foolish with our money during the years that we were able to work and save.

And by the the way, Rickey, I just want to say thank you for your service. I greatly admire those who serve and have served. Best wishes for your early retirement - I hope all goes well for you. I will warn you though, be prepared to call the marketplace every month if you are one of the "lucky ones" that has to prove income early on in the process. And thanks for the reminder that I need to call them first thing tomorrow morning - they have lost my paperwork 3 times now and threaten to cut me off every other month or so. I just love having to deal with the feds ! Believe me, I'm still looking for affordable alternatives - that's why I want to keep this thread alive.

[CathyandSteveG]

I am wondering how many of you seem to qualify for ACA....the income cutoff seems fairly low so it appears that people with an average or better income will not qualify.

Any help you can give is appreciated.

[Abby10]

Originally Posted by CathyandSteveG

I am wondering how many of you seem to qualify for ACA....the income cutoff seems fairly low so it appears that people with an average or better income will not qualify.

Any help you can give is appreciated.

Income cutoff is $62,000 or less per year. Depending on where you live, I guess, and one's lifestyle, that's not necessarily low.

[Irishmen]

Not part of the ACA. Really. All health insurance is tied into the ACA. Remember the ACA is a tax. You are being taxed and money used to pay for other people's policy who are subsidized. Thanks Obama for the 10k deductible.

[CathyandSteveG]

Well, i wonder if that figure of $62,000 would include social security, or pension????
We are 60 and 62 and hope to retire very soon...but we will have no health insurance....so we are investigating possibilities.

[RickeyD]

Originally Posted by Abby10

Rickey - I agree with all that you say and apologize if I came off in anyway that I was attacking you and/or your decisions. My post was just an attempt to explain what I think gomoho may have meant by "trouble". Truth be told, my husband and I are currently on insurance through the ACA, although not necessarily by choice. We both lost our jobs within 1 year of each other because of cutbacks, and our biggest expense was healthcare. Luckily, over the years we lived frugally enough to be in a position to pay for our living expenses otherwise, but we struggled to continue paying our healthcare premium. We are just one of many examples of people who are able to get subsidies (although we did not even know that when we applied for insurance) because we currently have so little income and assets are not considered. Our plan was not to retire so young, but who would have thought that times would change so drastically. Ironically we are both in the healthcare field and in many areas they are doing with less workers. To top it off there is a LOT of ageism going on. Unfortunately, experience and dedication are not valued in the workplace anymore and jobs (at least full-time ones with benefits) are scarce. So, I speak from direct experience, although I am not entirely comfortable with the choice we had to make. I do not see how it will sustain itself as it currently operates and welcome other ideas and/or avenues for the future as we have quite a few more years until Medicare. It is not easy being in your 50's these days - I'm just thankful that we were not foolish with our money during the years that we were able to work and save.



And by the the way, Rickey, I just want to say thank you for your service. I greatly admire those who serve and have served. Best wishes for your early retirement - I hope all goes well for you. I will warn you though, be prepared to call the marketplace every month if you are one of the "lucky ones" that has to prove income early on in the process. And thanks for the reminder that I need to call them first thing tomorrow morning - they have lost my paperwork 3 times now and threaten to cut me off every other month or so. I just love having to deal with the feds ! Believe me, I'm still looking for affordable alternatives - that's why I want to keep this thread alive.

When you say you have to prove income, what exactly does that mean ?

[Irishmen]

If you served in the military, is not the VA your healthcare provider?

[Abby10]

Originally Posted by CathyandSteveG

Well, i wonder if that figure of $62,000 would include social security, or pension????
We are 60 and 62 and hope to retire very soon...but we will have no health insurance....so we are investigating possibilities.

Yes. Basically, Cathy and Steve, it boils down to what your adjusted gross income is on your yearly tax return - line 37, to be exact. The subsidy is tiered depending on your adjusted gross income, but it must be $62,000 or less to be eligible for any subsidy. You can still buy insurance through the marketplace above that income, but it will not be subsidized - you pay full premium. That's what we were initially considering because buying insurance through the marketplace would have been cheaper than Cobra or going it on our own. Good luck with your search.......let's keep sharing info and knowledge!