The Open Enrollment Period for health insurance has just begun on November 1st, 2017-January 31st, 2018 in California. During this period, you can apply for a health insurance plan without a qualifying life event.

The Affordable Care Act and Covered California are alive and well. For Covered California members who qualify for state subsidies, they will continue receiving subsidies as long as their income is under 400% of the federal poverty level ($48,000 for an individual, $98,000 for a family of 4). Please review your modified adjusted gross income to see if you will qualify for premium tax credits to lower your monthly premium. Premiums are rising in California in 2018 at 12.5% statewide or 13.2% for the Los Angeles area. The good news is that subsidies are also increasing for those that are eligible. For Californians who are enrolled in Covered California and not receiving a subsidy, they are advised to switch off the exchange, as they have an 8.3% surcharge on all Silver plans built in, to offset the cost of the cost-sharing programs.

For the Southern California region, Anthem is leaving the region for 2018 while Oscar and Health Net are expanding their provider networks with competitive prices. Blue Shield’s PPO has the widest network but which also results in the highest premiums. Blue Shield continues to offer they HMO Trio health plan, in which doctors, hospital, and pharmacies are working together to get the best results for their patients. For many Californians, the rate hikes for 2018 will encourage members to review their plans seek alternatives. While Blue Shield has been known to have a rich provider networks, their PPO plans will have generally higher premiums. Health Net’s EnhancedCare PPO is competitively priced to Blue Shield’s PPO while Oscar offers an affordable EPO network. Kaiser continues to offer competitive rates.

Our mission at Solid Health Insurance Services is to find you a health and life insurance which fits your budgets and medical needs.

If you have preferred providers and hospitals, please let us know so that we can make sure that your health plan will have these providers in-networks. We understand that the rates are increasing substantially for 2018 and many members will want to either go to a lower tier plan or a more affordable carrier which may not cover their preferred providers. Our services are free of charge to you and the premium we are quoting are the same as if you go directly to the insurance carriers.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at info@solidhealthinsurance.com or our website at Solid Health Insurance Services.