October 2, 2018
Monadnock Ledger Transcript
(Peterborough, NH)
As the November
election approaches, both sides of the aisle have health care among their top
priorities.
Last year, the
Republicans’ plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with the
American Health Care Act failed to gain enough traction to pass. However, since
then, several other measures impacting the ACA have made their way through the
Legislature.
Notably, the
individual mandate requiring citizens to either carry insurance or pay a fine
has been lifted. While the measure doesn’t go into place until 2019, those
filing their tax returns may now claim a “hardship” exemption to the insurance
mandate, without needing to provide a justification or backing information.
Detractors of the
move feared removing the mandate would de-stabilize the ACA, as there would be
fewer young and healthy people to offset those who were using their insurance
with more frequency. However, Ken Woods, an insurance broker with Dublin Health
and Benefit, said those that come to him seeking assistance with health
insurance are still buying through the government marketplace with the same or
more frequency since the mandate was lifted in November. While some clients
chose not to continue their insurance, those numbers were small, he said, and
there was no mass exodus.
“I think most
people understand that a penalty isn’t insurance, and not having to pay a
penalty still doesn’t give you insurance,” Woods said. “It’s not a
cost-effective way of managing your risk.”
Dublin Health and
Benefit has about 1,500 clients enrolled in insurance through the ACA, Woods
said, and the number has been increasing each year, with this year being no
exception. Growth has been particularly robust in the area of small businesses
offering group plans to employees, he said, likely a result of a growing
economy and continual stiff competition to hire and retain employees in a
low-unemployment market.
There have also
been, over the past year, cuts to programs meant to assist educating people
about the ACA and how to enroll, including slashes to the advertising budget
for open enrollment times, and cutting funding for “navigators,” – people
trained to assist those enrolling in the program,
Programs such as
the River Center and Monadnock Service Link have provided navigator services in
the past, said River Center Executive Director Margaret Nelson, but no longer
have people in those positions. Those that need assistance can consult brokers
such as Woods – who have qualifications that allow them to both answer
questions and give advice on plans – or consult with application counselors
available at Monadnock Community Hospital.
Alexandra Davison,
a resource assistant at MCH, said the lack of funding for navigators will
likely put more pressure on her department. Like Woods, she hasn’t seen a
drop-off of residents interested in enrolling in health care through the
marketplace since the ending of the mandate. The health insurance struggle
Since the beginning
of August, Lisa Beaudoin of Temple has been faced with the daunting prospect of
not having health care.
In July, she
received a pay increase at the nonprofit she works for – usually a cause for
celebration. But the increase in her salary meant she no longer qualified for
her health insurance, which she had been getting through the Medicaid expansion
program.
Faced with looking
to the insurance marketplace, Beaudoin was dismayed to find that buying her own
insurance would cost twice her salary increase in premiums.
“It makes jumping
into the marketplace unaffordable,” she said.
Leslie Lewis of
Peterborough, however, said she had the opposite experience. She was getting
her insurance through her employer in 2009, when the cost became so expensive
that her employer decided to stop providing health care benefits, leaving Lewis
to look at the healthcare market.
Lewis bought her
plan through the ACA marketplace, she said, and was able to find a plan with
similar coverage, for about the same cost as her 50 percent contribution to the
plan she received through her employer.
She was happy with
the experience, Lewis said, but she was in constant fear of a repeal of the
ACA. So, she made a decision to change jobs, to another digital marketing firm
in Keene that provided health insurance. It wasn’t the only reason for her
decision, she said – but it was a definite factor.
“That was a big
impact,” Lewis said.
There are downsides
to relying on an employer for insurance, Lewis said, including that the need to
keep your health insurance will keep you at a job that may not be a good fit.
What people are
most concerned about, Woods said, is the political “footballing” of the issue
of health care.
“A common theme is
a general sense of frustration and uncertainty as it pertains the partisan
politics around health care,” Woods said. “It leaves people with a general
sense of unease as to what’s next.”
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