I thought it would interesting to record our household’s current health insurance rates and coverage, compare it with new rates under Obamacare and revisit the numbers in 2014 to see how the cost and coverage pans out over time. Every time I switch insurance carriers, I gain a ton of knowledge in a short period of time, and it inevitably leaves my brain a few weeks after the switch occurs. Insurance is confusing to me (and I would guess to other people) so here’s my attempt to keep it all straight in my head.

WHAT WE PAY TODAY
Our Regence plans as of September 29, 2013

• $315/mo Brangien + $164/mo Daniel = $479/month

WHAT WE’LL PAY IN 2014
Plans offered by Regence (as part of ACA)

• $419.79/month Gold Plan x 2 people = $839.58/month
• $366.98/month Silver Plan x 2 people = $733.96/month
• $291.24 /month Bronze Plan x 2 people = $582.48/month

Plans offered by Washington Health Benefit Exchange (estimates as of October 1, 2013)

• Silver Plan for 2 people = $667/month
• Bronze Plan for 2 people = $480/month

I’m self-employed. Brangien’s employer currently offers limited, expensive insurance so we decided years ago to pay for our own insurance. It looks like Washington Health Plan Finder may be our most cost effective replacement for our current Regence coverage.

REMAINING QUESTIONS

1. Will the $480/mo rate for the Bronze Plan hold (I’ve read that final rates won’t be available for a couple months)?
2. Will our preferred doctors be in-network with the Exchange plans (specifically, the Polyclinic)?
3. Will it make sense to pay for dental insurance under ACA? It has never penned out in the past—we’ve always paid dental out-of-pocket.
4. Under ACA, will Brangien’s employer offer more cost-effective insurance with better coverage?

Okay … off to see if www.wahealthplanfinder.org is up today (it was crashing on opening day).

Team Braniel in Portland, OR September 2013