Individual & Family

Under the Affordable Care Act all medical health insurance plans must cover a list of essential health benefits that includes:

• Ambulatory patient services
• Emergency services
• Maternity, pregnancy, and newborn care
• Mental health and substance use disorder services
• Prescription drugs
• Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
• Laboratory services
• Preventative and wellness services
• Pediatric services

All plans must also include some additional benefits, including birth control coverage and breastfeeding coverage. Plans may provide other benefits such as dental and vision but are not required to.

The Affordable Care Act also introduced a number or rights and protections for healthcare consumers such as requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing health conditions and making it illegal for insurance companies to cancel coverage for patients who become sick.

People who are not on an employer group insurance plan such as those who are self-employed, small business owners or students, and/or those who are not on Medicare.

All Marketplace plans cover the same 11 Essential Benefits:

1. Preventative and wellness services, and chronic disease management
2. Emergency services
3. Ambulatory patient services (outpatient hospital care)
4. Hospitalization (inpatient hospital care)
5. Laboratory services
6. Prescription drugs
7. Birth control coverage
8. Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care, including breastfeeding coverage
9. Pediatric services, including oral and vision care
10. Mental health and substance abuse disorder services
11. Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices

These are the minimum coverage requirements for all plans; some plans may offer additional benefits such as adult dental and vision, and medical management programs for specific needs such as diabetes.

All Marketplace plans must also cover treatment for pre-existing medical conditions, and cannot reject you, charge you more, or refuse to pay for essential health benefits for any condition you had before your coverage started. After you are enrolled, your insurance carrier cannot deny you coverage or raise your rates based only on your health.

• Changes in household
  • Such as marriage, birth/adoption of a child, divorce, or death
• Changes in residence
  • Such as moving to a new zip code or county, moving to the U.S. from a foreign country, or moving to/from a shelter or transitional housing
• Loss of health insurance
  • Such as losing employer group coverage, losing eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP, or losing coverage through a family member
• Other qualifying reasons

There are two alternatives to traditional Marketplace plans: Health Sharing plans and Short-Term Major Medical plans.

Health Sharing plans are NOT insurance, strictly speaking, but do satisfy the ACA requirement. As a member of a Health Sharing plan you pay a monthly “contribution” instead of a premium. When you see your doctor, they will send the bill to the Health Sharing company who then pays the bill using money from a pool of every member’s contributions.

Short-Term Major Medical plans are designed to last no more than 90 consecutive days. They are helpful for providing coverage while someone is in between jobs, until someone becomes eligible for Medicare, or if someone missed the chance to enroll in an ACA plan. Some plans can be “stacked” to provide coverage longer than 90 days.

No, the ACA does not create new insurance policies. It is instead a law that regulates the insurance industry to provide affordable, accessible, and quality health insurance through private insurance to individuals. It also expands on existing public insurance, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

The short answer here is yes. Under the ACA individual insurance is mandated, and you will have to be covered for at least 10 months of a year to avoid paying a penalty on your taxes. You may also qualify for exemptions from paying the penalty (which is monthly) for up to three consecutive months with a “coverage gap” exemption.

The ACA has largely lowered the cost for health insurance plans, making them affordable for many people. It provides a range of protections and rights for consumers regarding what must be covered by insurance companies, increases in insurance rates, and choice of doctor. It allows young adults to remain on their parents’ plans until age 26. The ACA also makes certain demands of insurance providers, such as covering without increased charge those with pre-existing conditions, and making it illegal to cancel coverage for people who become ill.

That depends on the company for which you work. If your workplace employs over 50 people, then it is required to offer its employees health insurance benefits. If not, the ACA has opened up the marketplace to provide quality, affordable options for individuals.