Obamacare math is getting more complicated, but a way to save substantial money in 2018 is now apparent, especially for Ohioans who earn too much money to qualify for subsidies.
According to a story from Cleveland.com, buy through an insurance broker or agent, or call the insurer directly.
This is not a pitch to send your business to a broker. Depending on your insurer, however, it could be a real money-saver. It also has implications for the future of the Affordable Care Act, as President Donald Trump may have wished (yes, he’s involved in this), but let’s take the consumer savings first.
Jeff Harkleroad, at Buckeye Health Benefits, a licensed insurance agency in Lakewood, checked this out today after cleveland.com contacted him, and confirmed it for himself after contacting Medical Mutual of Ohio. He plugged in the numbers for a 51-year-old man in Cuyahoga County:
He would pay $695 a month in 2018 for a particular mid-level or silver-tier Medical Mutual health care plan if he bought it on HealthCare.gov, the online Affordable Care Act marketplace, or “exchange.”
If he bought it off the marketplace instead, using a broker or agent, he’d pay $579. That’s a 17 percent savings.
This is not unique to Medical Mutual policies. Oscar, the health insurer teaming with the Cleveland Clinic for health plans in 2018, said it too priced nearly identical policies differently on and off the federal health care marketplace, HealthCare.gov.
Click here to read more of this investigative story from Cleveland.com.
About Marion Online News
