Health Insurance through the exchange

Just starting out as a traveler? Traveling questions or experiences to share? Here's the place.
syoung1700
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2015 12:53 pm

Health Insurance through the exchange

Unread post by syoung1700 » Sun Sep 13, 2015 12:59 pm

Hello,
I really enjoy the blog and the discussions here. I am a new grad thinking about doing travel therapy in a few moths or so once I get my feet under me. My question is regarding health insurance through the ACA. Do you get it through the state exchange of your tax home? Also, can you use the insurance in different states and still be in network? Getting insurance through the exchange seems to be a better route since you can take more time between assignments without worrying about lapses in coverage.
Sam

Hobohealth
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Re: Health Insurance through the exchange

Unread post by Hobohealth » Mon Sep 14, 2015 7:01 pm

Sam,

Good question and thoughts. The only thing I can say definitively is yes, you would get insurance through your home state - your tax home state. Remember with tax home: you live there full time, you just work other places for months at a time.

The in-network/out-of-network answer probably varies state-to-state and plan-to-plan. I believe that most states contract their exchanges through major insurance companies, so it would be no different than applying for insurance on the open market, except that you could get a subsidy if you qualify - my experience is that I do not qualify for a subsidy in Colorado. I wonder if as a New Grad with (I'm assuming) minimal recent income you might qualify for a subsidy for a year-or-so.

My wife and I do carry our own health insurance and have for years. It's open market insurance, I find it very expensive, but compared with the rates of other, I suppose it is reasonable. We got our own insurance when we routinely started going back to a seasonal job that doesn't offer insurance benefits - it paid off when I broke my arm the day after ending a contract travel assignment. I have often wondered if I had taken the agency's insurance if they would have paid for an ER visit the day after work was over (on the other-hand it was all under my deductible... so it didn't literally pay off, but I think it's a good example of what COULD happen). Carrying our own insurance has opened us up to a lot of possibilities for direct contracts and other creative employment situations where an employer doesn't have to cover us, so I recommend it if you can get a good deal. Also, recruiters will often give you a dollar or two more per hour if you carry your own insurance.

Hope this helps!

James

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