Obamacare News Blog

Georgia Bronze Plan Details

Georgia requested a 30-day emergency delay on reporting plan premiums and rates, but U.S. Health and Human Services chose not to respond to this request. Georgia’s insurance commissioner, Ralph Hudgens,  claimed that premiums are as high as 198% over currently available plans. Most states that are finding a significant increase in premiums are based off previously approved health plans offering extraordinarily high deductibles and out of pocket maximums, with basic benefits.

The Bronze plan, which is the base model of the ObamaCare plans, still must include all theObamaCare essential health benefits, and must meet cover 60% of medical costs. Therefore, even though this is lowest tiered of all the plans, it offers a lot more coverage than most base plans available currently.Bronze plans should have the lowest monthly premium*.

*Some job-based plans may actually offer lower Silver plan premiums than Bronze.

Georgia Bronze Plans

This article deals with Bronze plans for individuals and families. Click here to learn about how the Bronze plan works for group and small businesses under ObamaCare. These plans must offer a 60/40 split with your insurance company covering 60% of your medical care. All ObamaCare plans must follow the 80/20 Affordable Care Act Rule, where 80% of plan premiums must be spent on medical care or will be refunded to members.

Georgia Bronze Rates

Due to the emergency request, Health and Human Services has until September 1, 2013 to approve plans. Hudgens stated on August 1, 2012, “Yesterday, after not receiving a response to my request for a 30-day delay from the secretary of Health and Human Services, I was left with no viable option but to accept the filings for the federally-facilitated Georgia exchange. Although not surprised, I am disappointed in the unresponsiveness of the Obama administration.” Hudgens has been in staunch opposition of the Affordable Care Act, running for commissioner with an anti-ObamaCare platform. Some believe this is the reason for his emergency request. He insists, as do others, that premiums are just too high for his constituents.

For the reasons stated above we do not have concrete Georgia figures at this time. Since California was the first to release its figures we are providing an example for comparison, California’s average Bronze plan for a 40-year-old, non-smoker is $226 per month, without ObamaCare premium subsidies. With subsidies that same plan could cost as low as $0 per month. Below is a chart of California’s figures to give an idea of how a Bronze plan may work in Georgia:

For the most up-to-date Georgia premiums and plan rates call 800-930-7956.

Bronze May Not Be the Best Deal

Although the Bronze plan appears to save you the most per month, it cost you more than plans with higher premiums if you seek care. The reason is Bronze plans generally have a higher deductible and you will pay out-of-pocket for most services before that deductible is satisfied.  It is important to note that Silver is the only plan that offers ObamaCare cost-sharing subsidies to help with the costs of deductibles, coinsurance, and copays.  Click here to compare Bronze Plan, Silver Plan, Gold Plan, and the Platinum Plan side-by-side.

For any questions or assistance in applying (enrollment goes from October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014),  please contact Medicoverage.