Time to Update Important Health Information, Enroll in a Plan for 2019

New Hampshire residents can choose from more than a dozen plans for health insurance coverage in 2019. There are three insurance carriers offering coverage on the Health Insurance Marketplace next year in New Hampshire, giving residents a wide range of choices.

Open enrollment on the Health Insurance Marketplace began on November 1 and will continue until December 15. During this time, people who purchase insurance on the Marketplace can go to Healthcare.gov to review different plans and the cost to them. New Hampshire residents are also encouraged to update all personal and medical information on Healthcare.gov. Changes in household income, the number of people living in the household and other factors can impact the Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTCs) received. APTCs can help lower the cost of an individual’s monthly premium.

In 2019, three insurance companies will offer insurance plans to New Hampshire residents on the Marketplace: Anthem, Ambetter from NH Healthy Families, and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. By logging onto Healthcare.gov, consumers can review plans from each of these carriers and compare coverage features, such as deductibles, co-pays, primary care visit costs and other out-of-pocket costs. Consumers can also review the general cost of plans before logging on through the Healthcare.gov plans and estimated prices tool available at www.healthcare.gov/see-plans.

"We urge people to be cautious when looking at health insurance plans outside of the Marketplace,” said Zandra Rice Hawkins, executive director of Granite State Progress Education Fund and project manager for Covering New Hampshire.  “One of the major problems in the pre-Affordable Care Act days was that a person would pay their health insurance premium, only to find out when they became sick that the plan did not cover them. We do not want our friends and neighbors to find themselves in this situation. All health plans offered at HealthCare.govmust cover basic health services such as doctor’s visits, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, prescription drugs, and preventive services like cancer screenings. It is important to know which plans cover these basic services."

Plans on the Marketplace are available to people who cannot get health insurance through work, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or another source that provides qualifying health coverage. The cost of insurance depends on the expected household income for the coming year and subsidies are available to those who qualify to help defray the cost of premiums and out-of-pocket costs. Roughly 80 percent of those who apply see a savings in their health care costs.

Current Marketplace plans expire at the end of 2018 and newly purchased plans begin January 1, 2019. Those who wish to have coverage begin January 1 must sign up for a plan during open enrollment by December 15, 2018. Those who do not will be unable to purchase a plan on the Marketplace until next year’s open enrollment or if they experience a qualifying life event, such as getting married, the birth of a child, or loss of insurance due to unemployment.

New Hampshire residents who wish to enroll through the Marketplace can do so in a number of ways, including:

• Online at Healthcare.gov
• By phone by calling 1-800-318-2596
• With in-person help from an enrollment assister
• Through an insurance broker
• With a paper application mailed to the Health Insurance Marketplace

For more information about finding an assister, insurance broker or obtaining a paper application, go to CoveringNewHampshire.org. New Hampshire residents can also seek in-person help at a number of upcoming enrollment fairs throughout the state. A full list of enrollment fairs and other resources is available at the Covering New Hampshire website.

About Covering New Hampshire

Covering New Hampshire's ACA public education and outreach campaign includes paid digital ads, social media, video shorts, neighborhood literature drops, and a grassroots campaign to put important information about the ACA open enrollment period in front of New Hampshire individuals and families. The effort is run by Covering New Hampshire in conjunction with Granite State Progress Education Fund and the NH Health Care Coalition, and made possible with grants from the NH Children's Health Foundation and NH Charitable Foundation. For more information, go to www.CoveringNewHampshire.org.