HEALTHCARE OPEN SEASON

53,000 Granite Staters will be selecting or renewing a health plan through HealthCare.gov, through an agent, or directly from an insurance company.  

A lot of seniors find them selves caretakers of our children, so it  behooves us to become familiar with the insurance process, while we thank our lucky stars that we have Medicare.

Even if you like your 2017 plan, you should shop and compare your options for 2018. Minuteman will not offer plans in New Hampshire in 2018. Coverage is available through the Marketplace from three insurance companies (Ambetter, Harvard Pilgrim and Anthem).

Open season is shorter than has been in the past, running from 1 November through 15 December.

The Marketplace (www.HealthCare.gov) is your source for federally regulated and subsidized health insurance. If you have questions about or issues with using the Marketplace and obtaining coverage, please call the federal government at (800) 318-2596. (Once you have coverage, please contact the NH Insurance Department with questions or concerns, at 1-800-852-3416 or (603) 271-2261, or by email at consumerservices@ins.nh.gov.)

For an overview of how to get coverage in New Hampshire, the NH Insurance Department provides extensive information on plans, networks, help in finding a plan for you through navigators or brokers, how to file complaints and lots of other resources.  See also the NH Insurance Dept's NH HEALTH COST site for information about health insurance in New Hampshire and the open season.

Additional helpful sites are HealthInsurance.Org, where you can compare plans and obtain quotes, and Covering New Hampshire.

The HealthCare.gov 2018 plan preview tool is available and the interactive tool will help you to figure out how much of a subsidy the federal government will provide for you and your family to help you get health care. 

You don't have to do anything if you are happy with your current insurancee. If you had a policy that is no longer offered in New Hampshire and you don't do anything, you will be automatically enrolled in a plan that is deemed similar to your current plan; but that plan may not have a similar premium and your doctors and prescription drugs may not be in network.

Remember that the mandate to have health care still applies to 2018.