Healthcare is so broken in the US. I'm trying to fix it.
A couple points made in this articlewith regard to your personal health care data:*The state and federal governments knows more about you than you do. (health care data)
*Your hospital and doctors know more about you than you do.
All these programs are combined in Massachusetts under one 'application' (if you're under age 65) https://mahealthconnector.org
In order to determine eligibility (You must renew every year! Like doing taxes!) <ref>https://www.mass.gov/doc/130-cmr-502-health-care-reform-masshealth-eligibility-process/download</ref>, MassHealth initiates 'information matches'. They look you up electronically to match you in (emphasis added)
# '''the Federal Data Hub''', which matches with the '''Social Security Administration''', the '''Department of Homeland Security''', and the '''Internal Revenue Service'''; and
== Renewal ==
https://www.mahix.org/individual/ I assume this is the domain for the 'Massachusetts Healthcare Information Exchange'
https://www.mahealthconnector.org/wp-content/uploads/MassHealthHealthConnector-Webinar-041024.pdf
{{#ev:youtube|EcwQIk9mb58}}
== Assistance ==
* You can call (and wait on hold, and not get the info you need)
* You can visit an enrollement center (There are only 7 statewide. The nearest to me is over 30 miles away; approximately a 50 minute drive - during normal business hours so take an afternoon off work to get assistance.)
* '''best option''' Make an appointment with a Certified Asistance Counselor (CAC), also called a 'navigator'. There are two agencies locally that are certified: '''Anna Jaques Hospital''' (Newburyport), and the social services agency '''Pettingill House''' (Amesbury) which has a food bank location in Salisbury.
== Affordable Healthcare ==
Under the bi-partisan Affordable Care Act (ACA), your employer's plan is considered "affordable" in 2024 if the lowest-cost plan (meeting the <abbr title="A health plan meets this standard if it's designed to pay at least 60% of the total cost of medical services for a standard population, and if its benefits include substantial coverage of inpatient hospital and physician services. Individuals offered job-based coverage that provides minimum value and is considered affordable aren't eligible for an Advance Premium Tax Credit.">minimum value standard</abbr>) costs less than 8.39% of your household's income. So, if the crappiest plan meeting minimum standards offered costs slightly less than 10% of your 'modified adjusted gross income', then it's affordable <ref>[https://www.mahealthconnector.org/esi-affordability-calculator ESI Affordability Calculator]</ref>.
For perspective, let's say you're single and look at a couple scenarios where your AGI last year was either 48,255 or 130K. The numbers are summarized in the table below.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Adjusted Gross Income || 48,255 || 130,000
|-
! 8.39% affordability threshold || 4,049 || 10,907
|-
! Monthly threshold || 337 || 909
|}
So, if your employer offers a health plan with a monthly premium of $337, you're not going to get any marketplace credits.
An interesting note: 1/12 is 8.33% So, basically you are expected to pay one month of your income towards health insurance. And 2024 is the first year in a decade where the rate was below 9%
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