CHARLOTTE — Sarah Howe says her tattoo that says, “Ask me which one so we show the right one”, stands for luck.
And she could certainly use some.
She told Channel 9 she recently found out she has a brain issue.
“I might need brain surgery, which is really, really expensive,” Howe said.
She says she works a few jobs and doesn’t make much.
Too much for Medicaid, but not enough to pay insurance premiums through the Marketplace.
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“It’s extraordinarily unaffordable and I still have student loans that I’m paying off,” said Howe.
“Health insurance is very complicated,” said Natalie Marles, a health insurance navigator with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy.
She said all Marketplace costs are going up: premiums, deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, and the maximum amount you may have to pay out of pocket yearly. Technically, $10,600.
But Marles said she’s seeing even higher.
“We have seen maximum out-of-pockets of $12,000,” she said.
Another change:
All along if you made more than expected, you had to pay health insurance money back. But before there were limits on how much. Now, no more caps.
“Now you have to pay every single dollar back,” Marles said.
“So now I’m kind of figuring it out,” said Howe.
Howe told Channel 9 she’s walking around uninsured, hoping nothing happens and wondering how to pay for her brain treatment coming up.
“It’s very stressful,” she said. “Very stressful and time’s running out.”
Two more things:
If you already had a Marketplace plan this year, don’t auto-enroll for next year. There are so many changes, do it manually.
And if you have questions:
Meet with a navigator. You can find reputable ones on HealthCare.gov. They’re free.
You can also go with what’s called an agent broker.
But be careful: you may have to pay and beware of scammers.
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