Can You Buy Health Insurance That is Not Obamacare?
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So, today, you will get yourselves familiarized with the term Obamacare and you will find out whether you can buy health insurance that is not Obamacare or not.
Obamacare
Obamacare or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 refers to the health care reforms created by the now-former President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. The name was used by the President’s critics as irony, but it stuck with the people.
The main focus of this Act was to reduce the huge sums of money that Americans were paying for health insurance. It used three principles to make it work:
- it made health insurance mandatory for everyone, healthy or ill
- introduced preventive care
- offered federal compensations so that everyone would be able to afford their required insurance.
But despite all these efforts, a lot of people still find it hard to afford health insurance which is ACA (Affordable Care Act)-approved. The question now is can you buy health insurance that is not Obamacare and if so, what are the options available?
In order to save some money but also to enjoy some of the benefits as the ACA insurances holders, a lot of people turn to private insurances or to term medical plans. One of the main advantages of such a plan is the lower amount of money for out-of-pocket costs and lower deductibles.
“Off-Exchange” Plans
The closest plans available outside Obamacare but in accordance with its regulations are these so-called “off-exchange” plans. They offer similar basic medical coverage, the biggest difference laying in the fact that such a plan is directly purchased from an agent or broker.
Short-Term Plans
If you have missed the open enrollment period and do not qualify for any of the special enrollment period options available, you can still purchase short-term coverage. This is known as the closest alternative to the traditional ACA plan.
The initial term of such a plan is up to 364 days and it can be extended up to 36 months if the state in which you live accepts and permits this type of insurance. Also, it should come with a disclosure explaining all potential downsides and the differences when compared to ACA-accepted health insurance (for example, not being required to cover for the top ten essential benefits of health care).
The Bottom Line
To sum everything up, buying health insurance in the United States of America is, to this day, a complex task to do. Also, Obamacare is still not able to cover for everyone. However, you should not worry because you can buy health insurance outside the Affordable Care Act.