HealthCare.gov Review and Update on US Health Insurance

Last year I signed up for one of the new health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. I was hesitant but considering you have to pay a fee anyway if you do not have health insurance and the fact that it is just a good idea to be covered are a couple of reasons I decided to sign up for it.  I signed up for a plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield through the healthcare.gov website.  You can read the review of the sign up process and selecting a plan here.  

About a year into it now, overall I have been pleased with the program.  I was able to choose a new doctor close by and set up an appointment.  I had actually been putting it off until they encouraged me to set up an appointment that would be covered at no cost just by having the insurance.  The new doctor and office turned out to be just fine and I would go back again.  I did not even have to pay a co-pay for the appointment which was nice. 

During the first year, the cost per month was manageable but a bit higher than I would have preferred.  It is reduced depending on your income level.  For example if you make under a certain amount, you will qualify for a reduced rate each month.  This is tied into tax credits which we will go over next.

I was curious as to how it would effect the taxes this year.  When filing the taxes, they now have a section to enter in your payment information from the health insurance.  I had not started the insurance until May of last year so I actually did have to pay a fee for the earlier months in the year when I did not have the plan.  But for the remaining months when I was covered, I did receive a credit back which lowered the taxes. I was able to recalculate the health insurance for the new year to bring down the monthly cost a bit.

Overall the new health insurance through healthcare.gov has been pretty good and I would recommend it for anyone who is not covered yet.  They have a wide range of plans for pretty much any budget and they have many different companies to choose from.  Feel free to comment below if you have any questions or comments on the new health care.