In early 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). This law will bring big changes to health insurance and many other areas of health care.
While there have been few changes in health insurance so far, big changes in the individual and small group insurance market will happen on January 1, 2014. On that date, a new “market” for the purchase of individual and small group health insurance will open.
This new market, called the Health Insurance Exchange, will be where health insurance products or plans can be purchased. No applicant for health insurance will be turned down in this new market.
When this becomes available, you will be able to purchase a basic health benefit plan, as determined by the state, with the help of trained personnel (navigators or brokers and agents) to help you understand the choices, and to help you select your plan. Once you have selected your plan, you will also complete your purchase through the Exchange.
Because there is a lot of information that comes with health insurance reform, MCHA recommends that you visit the websites below for more information.
Here are three good sites to choose from:
http://mn.gov/health-reform/ This website is provided by the state of Minnesota.
http://www.healthcare.gov/law/index.html The official website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
http://healthreform.kff.org/ This website is from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Because the new health insurance marketplace is less than two years away, MCHA will bring you news about upcoming changes that are in the planning stage now, but will be coming in the months ahead. Check the MCHA website (www.mchamn.com) often and click on the “Healthcare Reform and MCHA” tab on the left side of the page.
