Health Insurance Marketplace
Are You Required to Buy Coverage?
Use this handy guide to help you determine whether or not you are required to buy health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
The Health Insurance Marketplace is available at Healthcare.gov.
Explore Your Options
- If you have job-based health insurance you like, you can keep it. You may be able to change to Marketplace coverage if you want to.
- You can ask your employer if it plans to offer health insurance. If not, you may need to get insurance through the Marketplace or from other sources. If you don't have coverage, you may have to pay a fee.
- If you run a small business, you can go to the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace to find out about providing coverage for your employers.
- If you have Medicare or Medicaid, you're already covered and don't have to make any changes.
Insurance Companies
Only one payer (Independence Blue Cross) will offer products on the SHOP (for small employer groups) and individual exchange. Members enrolled in an Aetna or United HealthCare product in 2016 will need to change plans during this enrollment period. CKHS participates in all Independence Exchange products and is a tier 1 (low-cost) provider in the Independence “Proactive” tiered products.
Prepare to Apply
The Marketplace offers different types of health plans to meet a variety of needs and budgets. You will need to figure out how much you want to spend on health coverage each month.
Most people using the Marketplace will qualify to save money. To find out how much you're eligible for when you apply, it will help to have these items close by:
- Social Security numbers (or document numbers for legal immigrants)
- Birth dates
- Pay stubs, W-2 forms or Wag and Tax Statements
- Policy numbers for any current health insurance
- Information about any health insurance you or your family could get from your jobs.
How to Apply or Renew?
Go online to the Health Insurance Marketplace at Healthcare.gov or You can contact the Health Insurance Marketplace directly by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325).