Do you have health insurance? If you do not, you can get it through the Affordable Care Act.

NOTE: Open Enrollment Ends March 31

Since insurance companies can no longer deny coverage for preexisting conditions, or other reasons like age and weight, anyone can buy a policy. I live in California and we have a great state exchange called Covered California. One needs to run the numbers to see which policy makes the best sense. One can get premium support based on income. Even if you do not qualify for premium support, or do not wish to accept this support, you can get covered. Very low income earner can get coverage through Medicaid.

A Platinum Blue Shield Plan, without premium support, would cost around $1,000 a month. With premium support this plan costs $510 a month for an individual making $28,000 a year. A family with 3 individuals, two adults and one child, could have a yearly income of $65,000 with similar price. Check to see if your current health care providers accept insurance policy from whatever company you choose. Most of the companies had similar plan costs.

I went with Blue Shield only because I was sure that it was accepted by my health care providers, the San Jose Medical Group. As it turned out, they also accept many of the other insurance companies too.

Here is summary of the benefits for a Platinum level policy.



These numbers are approximate. Without any premium support, these policies would have cost around:

• Bronze: $500
• Silver: $625
• Gold: $760
• Platinum: $1000

Depending upon the individual's income, these prices drop dramatically. Pricing also varies on state and location.

Covered California has a handy calculator that gives an estimate. There are only a few thing you need to enter, one of them being a Zip Code. Since it is California, you can use 95126. The results will give prices for policies with and without premium support. There results also show the various policy and company options. This calculator is quick and easy and will give you an idea of the cost.

https://www.coveredca.com/shopandcompare/#calculator

Even if your state does not have an exchange, you can get coverage from the federal Web site:

https://www.healthcare.gov/

If your state government is in favor of the Affordable Care Act, the process is much easier and you may have more policy and company options.

Before deciding on a company you can check to see if your current health providers accept that particular company's policy.

NOTE: Open Enrollment Ends March 31

-Mark-