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Obamacare’s Tax-Time Lessons

The second round of Obamacare open enrollment is over, but your paperwork may not be. It’s tax time. And as I suspected, this is shaping up to be a stressful period for many Californians who remained uninsured or purchased health insurance from Covered California. Q: I had a Covered California plan for eight months last […]

Small Business Exchange Offline And Off Target

California has been hailed as national leader in implementing Obamacare, enrolling about 4 million people into Medi-Cal and Covered California since last year. But when it comes to our health insurance exchange for small businesses – known as SHOP – the Golden State looks tarnished. Businesses can’t enroll in SHOP online. Commissions to insurance agents have […]

Covered California’s Confusing Mail

You’ve jumped through all of Covered California’s hoops. You figured out what makes a bronze plan different from a silver one. You made your best guess at how much money you’ll earn next year. You paid your first month’s premium. Now you have health insurance. Or do you? Today, I’m explaining yet another Covered California […]

Health Law Mandate Hits Employers Unevenly

Remember those end-of-the world predictions from Nostradamus, the ancient Mayans and Pat Robertson that we somehow survived? The “employer mandate” may be Obamacare’s version of that. Starting Jan. 1, one of the most-feared aspects of the Affordable Care Act takes effect after some delay, and requires large businesses to provide health coverage to their employees […]

Updating Your Income Could Lead To Canceled Health Plan

How much money will you make next year? Yeah, I wouldn’t know the answer to that either. Projecting your income for the coming year has become a confounding but critical exercise in determining your eligibility for tax credits from Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange. It’s doubly hard for self-employed individuals and freelancers whose […]

New To Medicare? Drop Covered California Fast

It’s open-enrollment season again, and I’m not just talking about Covered California. Among those making important health care decisions right now are more than 50 million Americans – including more than 5 million Californians – who have Medicare. That’s the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older and those with kidney failure and certain […]

Open Enrollment II: Tips For Obamacare’s Second Year

I’m a notorious penny-pincher, though I much prefer the term “thrifty.” So I have some counterintuitive advice when it comes to picking a Covered California plan: Cheaper isn’t always better. I’ll explain why below and provide other advice for this year’s Covered California (and private market) open-enrollment season, which starts Nov. 15 and ends Feb. […]