Obamacare News Blog

ACA: Young People Should You Opt for a Penalty?

Generation Opportunity a conservative group has created a youth campaign telling young persons to take the penalty over enrolling in a health plan. Should you opt out? Well, that’s up to you. Why is this group saying this? It’s a political move. Because the Affordable Care Act needs you, the young, to enroll to make the plans affordable. Generation Opportunity is basically saying you’re young and healthy so you don’t need coverage. They make a point, but let’s break this down so you can make an informed decision.

What are the New ACA Plans?

The new plans are called the newACA plans: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each plan must have the essential health benefits which include $0 preventive care, maternity, and emergency services.

I’m Young, Why Would I get Insurance?

We aren’t here to tell you what to do, but remember that emergencies happen, you know like a car accident, a fall while hiking, or a snowboarding accident. Just to put this into perspective the average 3-day hospital stay costs $30,000. That’s a lot! But I know what you’re thinking it’s unlikely that you would end up in the hospital for 3 days or any days. Try this on for size: the average cost to set a broken leg is $7,500. Medical costs are expensive. And of course the other reason is most individuals are mandated to have insurance or pay an ACA penalty.

Watch Stephen Colbert talk about health insurance:

How Much is the Penalty?

The penalty ranges from $325 to thousands of dollars. It all depends on how much money you make.

Should I Choose the Penalty or a Plan?

Again up to you. But if you go for the penalty you pay out of pocket and still will have to pay if you have any medical issues. If you choose insurance you can go with an on or off-Exchange plan. But if you qualify for premium subsidies to help with the monthly cost and/or cost-sharing subsidies to help with deductibles, coinsurance, and copays you should choose one of the metal plans. These plans can be as low as $0 a month. That is not a typo. But the average US premium for a 26 year old purchasing a Bronze plan costs $179.33 a month -of course this is without any subsidies.

If you decided that applying is your best option, go to Healthapplication.com to fill out your paper Obamacare Health Exchange Application.

To learn what your monthly premium would be call 800-930-7956 or contact Medicoverage.