Part-Timers Losing Health Insurance May Want To Thank Their Companies

By Rick Newman | The Exchange – Fri, Sep 20, 2013 5:03 PM EDT

How terrible. Home Depot (HD) and Trader Joe’s have decided to stop offering health insurance for part-time employees, moving them over to Obamacare instead. More companies seem sure to follow. And more wailing about greedy, heartless corporations is sure to follow that. Some workers may start to drop dead from sheer anxiety before Obamacare even goes into effect on January 1.

Once the new health law has been in place for a few months, however, Part-Time America may issue a collective sigh of relief. Nobody ever held up today’s part-time "mini-med" plans as model coverage. The majority of part-time workers don’t even get health insurance, and those who do typically get diluted plans with limited benefits they still have to pay something for. “You have to question whether that’s really insurance,” says Paul Fronstin, director of the health research program at the Employee Benefits Research institute. “They may not cover prescription drugs, and if you get cancer or end up in the hospital, they probably won’t help you a whole lot.”

Insurance offered under the Affordable Care Act, by contrast, could end up being a much better deal. Obamacare is complicated, and it will require many people to do detailed research on their insurance options instead of having an employer do it for them. There have also been elaborate efforts by foes of the program to depict it as The Ruination of Everything. So it’s not surprising that part-timers being told their employer is cutting them loose and sending them over to Obamacare are a little jumpy.
Actually enrolling could calm them down, however. Obamacare was designed to make decent health insurance affordable for people who otherwise can’t afford it, and whether you love or hate the program, it seems likely to succeed at that basic mission. That’s because the program subsidizes the cost of insurance based on your income, with the largest subsidies going to those with the lowest incomes.

Lots of confusion

There are many insurance choices under Obamacare that vary by state and apply to different income levels, which adds to the confusion. But the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation has built a helpful calculator that lets you enter your income and a few other basic details to get an idea of how much insurance would cost you under the program.

A single parent with three kids and an annual income of $25,000, for instance, could get an $8,800 insurance plan for a total out-of-pocket cost of $500 per year. Subsidies, in other words, cover 94% of the cost. Try to beat that on part-time pay.

A two-parent family with two kids and a $50,000 income could get a $10,000 plan for $3,365, with subsidies covering 66% of the cost. There’s one catch: You only qualify for such deals if you’re not able to get coverage through your employer. So if you’re a part-timer whose company canceled your watered-down insurance coverage, it may have actually done you a favor.

Trader Joe’s is one employer known for offering generous health care benefits, even for part-timers (until now). But even those workers could end up better off under Obamacare. In an internal email published by the Washington Post, a Trader Joe’s exec provided some calculations for a part-time employee who earns about $24,000 per year and has been paying about $167 per month as her share of a Trader Joe’s policy similar to a “silver” plan under the ACA. If she enrolls in Obamacare, the subsidized cost would fall to about $70 per month for nearly identical coverage. And that’s before a $500 annual stipend Trader Joe’s plan to offer part-timers to help them pay for insurance.

Some will pay more

Without a doubt, there will be some people who end up paying more for insurance as their employers offer less. Mostly, they will be higher-income workers who lose employer-provided coverage and have to buy it through Obamacare. Subsidies are phased out at 400% of the poverty line, which this year is $45,960 for an individual and $94,200 for a family of 4. Above that, people have to pay the full cost of coverage.

Other companies have been changing their health care coverage in ways that sound like they’re related to Obamacare but aren’t. Walgreens (WAG), for instance, will begin requiring employees to choose an insurance plan from a private “exchange” that offers at least 25 choices, instead of the three or four Walgreen’s has been offering. The concept is similar to the public exchanges that will be up and running under Obamacare, beginning October 1, with coverage beginning January 1. But the government plays no role and offers no subsidies in the exchange Walgreen’s is joining.

Walgreen’s will still bear much of the cost of its employees’ coverage, through fixed stipends it grants employees to help pay for care. But workers will now have to educate themselves more, choose coverage from a wide range of options, and pay the difference if they choose Cadillac coverage that costs more than the subsidy covers. The idea is to give employees a stronger incentive to control health care spending, by requiring them to pay more of their own money as costs rise.

IBM (IBM), Time-Warner (TWX) and General Electric (GE) have enacted similar plans for retirees, and companies in general are getting more aggressive about finding new ways to control health care spending as it become more and more of a burden. Obamacare may be part of the solution, but many companies would be doing this even without the health reform law. If the scaremongering over Obamacare ever stops, weathering changes in health care benefits may no longer require hypertension medication.

Rick Newman’s latest book is Rebounders: How Winners Pivot From Setback To Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/part-timers-losing-healthcare-insurance-may-want-thank-210354500.html

The Anti-Aging Secret Dr. Oz Recommends: Tai Chi

by David Dorian Ross | on September 11th, 2013 |

Imagine an activity that can effectively combine your health and fitness needs in one place—a fun and effective exercise for combatting obesity and weight loss; and for promoting muscle tone, endurance; and as much calorie burning as running!

This activity has been shown to help reverse heart disease, lower the risk of falls (falling is the #1 cause of death among people over 65), relieve depression and anxiety, undo the causes of Alzheimer’s, relieve chronic low back pain, and very possibly slow cellular aging. Hello, “Fountain of Youth”!

 

 

What is Tai Chi?

The name of this all-encompassing activity is “Taijiquan” (Tai Chi)―the 1,000-year-old Chinese meditation/workout/martial arts practice that has had a resurgence of popularity of late.
Actor Keanu Reeves is hooked, and recently, he directed, produced, and acted in the film A Man of Tai Chi. Another fan is actor Hugh Jackman, who uses Tai Chi as part of his regimen to stay in X-man shape. And Dr. Oz says that Tai Chi is the ticket to living till 100.
Related Article: Health Benefits of Yoga
Tai Chi is 100% safe. It has no side effects, no contraindications, and no record of people being injured as a result of practicing it.
If Tai Chi is new to you, or you think it’s a slow-motion dance for old people, check out this quick guide to the top five benefits of Tai Chi.

 

 

Top 5 Benefits of Tai Chi

1. Lose Weight

Numerous studies have shown that Tai Chi affects metabolism and improves aerobic capacity. In one study participants were able to lower both their body mass index (BMI) and their waist circumference by significant amounts.
Due to the synergistic nature of its movements, Tai Chi burns between 300 and 500 calories per hour, depending on the intensity of your Tai Chi workout. When you practice Taijiquan, you use more than just your arms or legs; you’re using your entire body.
The more of your body you use, even at a slow pace, the more calories you burn.
Related Article: Why Burst Training is Your Best Fat Burning Workout

2. Build Muscle

Practicing Tai Chi is a great way to build and tone muscles. In particular, the legs are working continuously. In a ...


typical 20-minute Taijiquan routine, you may perform the equivalent of 100 lunges.
The upper body also gets a great workout, as this practice utilizes weights and other methods.

3. Stress Less

More than 20 million adults in America suffer from depression and/or anxiety. However, Tai Chi is a great solution and an alternative to many medications.
More than 40 studies have been done on the effects of Tai Chi on mood and overwhelmingly, Tai Chi has been shown to significantly relieve depression and anxiety (helping patients reduce medication intake), and alleviate withdrawal symptoms during drug-and-alcohol treatment programs.
Related Article: How to Manage Stress Without Alcohol or Drugs
In addition Tai Chi students often develop a sense of calm, centeredness, and positivity!

4. Fight Heart Disease

Are you a “Type A” personality, but are sometimes a bit tightly wound? Statistically, that places you at a higher risk for heart disease, the #1 cause of early mortality in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about 600,000 people die of heart disease in the U.S. every year—that’s 1 in every 4 deaths. But according to Dr. Peter Wayne, author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi, “Tai Chi may be one of the more effective, versatile non-pharmacological interventions to prevent and rehabilitate cardio-vascular disease.”
Related Article: 11 Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy

5. Boost Your Immune System

In a 2007 UCLA study (Irwin, M. “Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,” April 2007), researchers found that subjects who practiced Tai Chi had twice the immune response as the control subjects. According to the UCLA head researcher, the study suggests that “tai chi is an approach that might complement and augment the efficacy of other vaccines.”
So the next time you get your annual flu shot, back it up with a little Tai Chi practice, and it may be twice as effective!

 

The Takeaway

Tai Chi may be ancient, but it’s more effective, efficient, and safer than many modern methods of health and fitness self-care. Try it today—and get your Qi on!
*****************
David-Dorian Ross has been playing Taijiquan (The Art of Harmony) for 35 years. He is America’s “Chi-vangelist,” whose public appearances introduce people to the benefits, accessibility and sheer joy of learning Taiji (T’ai Chi). Inside Kung-fu Magazine called him “the man who brought T’ai Chi mainstream.” His most recent collaboration is with international martial arts movie star Jet Li to promote Tai Chi throughout the world.

Source: http://inspiyr.com/tai-chi-benefits/

More Americans exercise while they work

Sep 12, 3:36 AM (ET)By SAM HANANEL

(AP) Josh Baldonado, an administrative assistant at Brown & Brown Insurance, works at a treadmill desk... Full Image

WASHINGTON (AP) - Glued to your desk at work? Cross that off the list of excuses for not having the time to exercise.
 
A growing number of Americans are standing, walking and even cycling their way through the workday at treadmill desks, standup desks or other moving workstations. Others are forgoing chairs in favor of giant exercise balls to stay fit.
Walking on a treadmill while making phone calls and sorting through emails means "being productive on two fronts," said Andrew Lockerbie, senior vice president of benefits at Brown & Brown, a global insurance consulting firm.

Lockerbie can burn 350 calories a day walking three to four miles on one of two treadmill desks that his company's Indianapolis office purchased earlier this year.

(AP) Josh Baldonado, an administrative assistant at Brown & Brown Insurance, works at a treadmill desk... Full Image

"I'm in meetings and at my desk and on the phone all day," he said. "It's great to be able to have an option at my work to get some physical activity while I'm actually doing office stuff. You feel better, you get your blood moving, you think clearly." Treadmill desks designed for the workplace are normally set to move at 1 to 2 mph, enough to get the heart rate up but not too fast to distract from reading or talking on the phone comfortably.
It's been a decade since scientific studies began to show that too much sitting can lead to obesity and increase the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Even going to the gym three times a week doesn't offset the harm of being sedentary for hours at a time, said Dr. James Levine, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic.

"There's a glob of information that sitting is killing us," Levine said. "You're basically sitting yourself into a coffin."

More companies are intrigued by the idea of helping employees stay healthy, lose weight and reduce stress - especially if it means lower insurance costs and higher productivity, said Levine, an enthusiastic supporter of the moving workstations.
"Even walking at 1 mile an hour has very substantial benefits," Levine said, such as doubling metabolic rate and improving blood sugar levels. "Although you don't sweat, your body moving is sort of purring along."

Sales at Indianapolis-based TreadDesk are expected to increase 25 percent this year as large corporations, including Microsoft, Coca Cola, United Healthcare and Procter & Gamble have started buying the workstations in bulk, said Jerry Carr, the company's president.
At LifeSpan Fitness, based in Salt Lake City, sales of treadmill desks more than tripled over 2012, said Peter Schenk, company president.

"We don't see the growth slowing down for several years as right now we are just moving from early adopters, which are educated and highly health conscious, to more mainstream users," Schenk said.

With bicycle desks or desk cycles, workers can pedal their way through the day on a small stationary bike mounted under their desk.

Treadmill desks can range from about $800 to $5,000 or more, depending on the manufacturer and model. Desks cycles start as low as $149 for models that can fit under an existing desk but can run $1,400 or more for those with a desk built in. Standup desks can run as low as $250 for platforms that can rest on an existing desk.

Some workers have opted for lower-profile - and lower-cost - ways to stay fit at work, such as sitting on giant exercise balls instead of chairs. Using the inflatable balls can help improve posture and strengthen abs, legs and back muscles.

"I've got nurses in my operating room who will use one of those balls instead of a chair," said Michael Maloney, a professor of orthopedics and sports medicine specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Maloney said anyone trying an exercise ball, treadmill desk or moving workstation should approach it with common sense. Those who have not been exercising regularly should start using the equipment in small time increments to avoid injury, he said.

"They have to just do it with some common sense and not overdo it," Maloney said. "Just pay attention to how their body is responding to the new activities."

Georges Harik, founder of the Web-based instant messaging service imo.im in Palo Alto, Calif., bought two treadmill desks for his 20-person office to share three years ago. Employees tend to sort through email or do other work while using the treadmills.

"I do it when I can," he said. "Sometimes it's not possible if you're really thinking hard or programming a lot. But this sort of low-grade activity that keeps people from being sedentary probably helps extend their lives by a few years, and we're big fans of that."

The office has also purchased standing desks for most of its employees. The desks can be raised up or down with the touch of a button, and Harik says at least three or four workers can be seen standing at desks to stretch their legs at any one time.

But not everyone wants one, Harik said. Some workers find it too distracting to incorporate standing or walking into their work, and some feel they are just not coordinated enough to multitask as they exercise.

Levine said he was at first skeptical that a standup desk would offer improvements in health comparable to treadmill desks or other moving workstations.

"It appears I was completely wrong," he said. "Once you're off your bottom, it's inevitable that you start meandering around. Within two minutes of standing, one activates a series of metabolic processes that are beneficial. Once you sit, all of those things get switched off."
Denise Bober, director of human resources at The Breakers, the resort hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., said having a treadmill desk in her office has made a big difference in how she feels after work.

"The more movement and interaction I have, the more energy I have at the end of the day," she said.

Bober spends one to three hours walking when she's in the office, usually at 2 mph.
"If I go faster, then I make too many typing errors, but if I'm just reading a report I can go faster," she said.
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Follow Sam Hananel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SamHananelAP

Source: http://apnews.myway.com//article/20130912/DA8OMTPG1.html 

Haves and have-nots as health care markets open

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

(AP) In this March 23, 2010 file photo, Marcelas Owens of Seattle, left, Rep. John Dingell,... Full Image

WASHINGTON (AP) - Having health insurance used to hinge on where you worked and what your medical history said. Soon that won't matter, with open-access markets for subsidized coverage coming Oct. 1 under President Barack Obama's overhaul.
But there's a new wild card, something that didn't seem so critical when Congress passed the Affordable Care Act back in 2010: where you live.
Entrenched political divisions over "Obamacare," have driven most Republican-led states to turn their backs on the biggest expansion of the social safety net in a half century. If you're uninsured in a state that's opposed, you may not get much help picking the right private health plan for your budget and your family's needs.
The differences will be more glaring if you're poor and your state rejected the law's Medicaid expansion. Unless leaders reverse course, odds are you'll remain uninsured. That's because people below the poverty line do not qualify for subsidies to buy coverage in the markets.

(AP) In this Tuesday, March 27, 2012 file photo, Amy Brighton from Medina, Ohio, who opposes... Full Image

"We are going to have a new environment where consumers may be victims of geography," said Sam Karp of the California HealthCare Foundation, a nonprofit helping states tackle practical problems of implementation. "If I'm a low-wage earner in California, I may qualify for Medicaid. With the exact same income in Texas, I may not qualify." The health care law is finally leaving the drawing boards to become a real program with citizens participating. But in many parts of the country the decisions of Republicans opposed to the law will trump the plans of Democrats who wrote it.
Still, there is a new bottom line. Health insurance marketplaces in every state will provide options for millions of people who don't have job-based coverage, who can't afford their own plan or have a health problem that would get them turned down. The feds will run the markets in states that refused to do so.
The coverage won't be free, even after sliding-scale subsidies keyed to your income.
That's significant because starting next year most Americans will also have a legal obligation to get covered or face fines. Some people who now purchase bare-bones individual plans will complain the new ones cost too much. Others, in good health, may resent the government telling them to purchase insurance they don't think they need.

(AP) This April 30, 2013 file photo shows the short form for the new federal Affordable Care Act... Full Image

Nonetheless, the number of uninsured people is expected to drop markedly, bringing the United States closer to other economically advanced countries that guarantee coverage. The combination of subsidized private insurance through the new markets, plus expanded Medicaid in states accepting it, could reduce the number of uninsured by one-fourth or more next year. Current estimates of the uninsured range from around 49 million to well over 50 million.
As Americans get more familiar with the law - and if more states accept the Medicaid expansion - millions more should gain coverage. Many of the remaining uninsured will be people living in the country illegally. They are not entitled to benefits.
In Texas, Republican Gov. Rick Perry has vowed not to facilitate "Obamacare." But Cecilia Fontenot of Houston is looking forward to the opening of that state's federally run insurance market.
A part-time accountant in her early 60s, Fontenot is uninsured and trying to stay healthy while coping with diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. She walks twice a day, early in the morning before it gets hot, and in the evenings.
Also on her mind is a breast lump detected about a year ago. Her doctor recommended a digital mammogram, but she has not been able to afford the more involved test.
"I try not to worry and just pray on it," said Fontenot.
Because of her pre-existing conditions, Fontenot would have a tough time finding affordable individual coverage today. But starting Jan. 1, insurers will no longer be able to turn away people with health problems or charge them more.
And the government will provide sliding-scale tax credits that can make premiums more affordable for households earning between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty line. That's $11,490 to $45,960 for an individual, $23,550 to $94,200 for a family of four.
People on the low end of the income scale get more help, as will older people, whose premiums are higher.
With an annual income of about $23,000, Fontenot makes too much to qualify for Medicaid. And her state decided not to expand the program, an option the Supreme Court granted last year as it upheld the rest of Obama's law.
But she would qualify for subsidized private coverage in the federally run Texas marketplace. She could apply online, through a call center, by mail or in person.
After the government verifies her identity, legal residence and income, Fontenot would be able to take her tax credit and use it to pick an insurance plan. Coverage takes effect Jan. 1.
She'd have up to four levels of coverage to choose from: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. All cover the same benefits, but platinum has the highest premiums and lowest out-of-pocket costs, while bronze has the lowest premiums and highest out-of-pocket costs.
Fontenot's share of premiums would be capped at 6.3 percent of her income, or $1,450 a year for a benchmark silver plan. She'd have to squeeze about $120 a month out of her budget, and that doesn't include her annual deductible and copayments.
"If I want to stay alive, I'm going to have to budget that in," said Fontenot.
With insurance, she'd switch to a brand-name diabetes drug that does a better job of controlling her blood sugars - and get that mammogram.
"I am not asking for free stuff," she added. "I am willing to do my part."
Like Fontenot, many of the people who'll access the markets Oct 1 will have health problems. It's where the greatest need is.
But two other groups are critical to the program's success: Healthy uninsured people, many of them in their 20s and 30s, and insured people who will switch over from existing individual policies.
Healthy individuals are needed to help pay for the sick.
And with instant feedback via social media, reviews by people switching from existing individual plans could define early consumer sentiment.
Some of those transitioning will be looking for better deals. Others will be there because their insurers canceled policies that didn't meet the law's minimum standards, and they may be upset.
Consumers don't have to decide on Oct. 1. You have until Dec. 15 to sign up if you want coverage by Jan. 1. And you have until next Mar. 31 if you want to avoid penalties for 2014. Fines start as low as $95 the first year but escalate thereafter.
Procrastinate beyond Mar. 31, and you'll have to wait until the next open enrollment period in Oct. 2014, unless you have a life-changing event like job loss, divorce or the birth of a child.
Former Medicare chief Mark McClellan, who oversaw the rollout of seniors' prescription drug benefits for Republican President George W. Bush, says his advice is not to sign up right away, but not to wait too long either. In other words, check things out. Buying health insurance is not as simple as shopping on Amazon.
"This is a milestone along the path but by no means the end of the road," said McClellan. "There's a lot more of a journey to see if it can really succeed."
Three key things to watch for are premiums, choice and the consumer shopping experience.
Premiums so far are averaging lower than what government experts estimated when Congress was debating the law. That's important for policy types, but it may not mean much to consumers. Current low-cost individual market policies are difficult to compare with the new plans, which offer better financial protection and broader benefits.
Plan choices seem adequate, but networks of hospitals and doctors may be tightly restricted to keep premiums low.
The biggest unknown is how consumers will feel about the whole experience. Many will be unfamiliar with health insurance basics, and applying for subsidies may feel like plodding through tax forms.
Still, after years of polemic debate and a Supreme Court decision - and even as congressional Republicans keep trying to repeal it - "Obamacare" will finally be in the hands of American consumers.

Souce: http://apnews.myway.com//article/20130911/DA8OA3V81.html

Studies take early look at health law's premiums

Sep 5, 7:22 AM (ET)By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

(AP) This Oct. 11, 2012 file photo shows a basket of medical supplies await storage in... Full Image

WASHINGTON (AP) - Coverage under President Barack Obama's health care law won't be cheap, but cost-conscious consumers hunting for lower premiums will have plenty of options, according to two independent private studies.
A study released Thursday by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation found that government tax credits would lower the sticker price on a benchmark "silver" policy to a little over $190 a month for single people making about $29,000, regardless of their age.
By pairing their tax credit with a stripped-down "bronze" policy, some younger consumers can bring their premiums down to the range of $100 to $140 a month, while older people can drive their monthly cost even lower - well below $100 - if they are willing to take a chance with higher deductibles and copays.
A separate study released Wednesday from Avalere Health, a private data analysis firm, took a wide-angle view, averaging the sticker prices of policies at different coverage levels.

(AP) Chart shows what health insurers are anticipated to charge in various states for coverage under the... Full Image

Before tax credits that act like a discount, premiums for a 21-year-old buying a mid-range "silver" policy would be about $270 a month, the Avalere study found. List-price premiums for a 40-year-old buying a mid-range plan will average close to $330. For a 60-year-old, they were nearly double that at $615 a month. Starting Oct. 1, those who don't have health care coverage on the job can go to new online insurance markets in their states to shop for a private plan and find out if they qualify for a tax credit. An estimated 4 out 5 consumers in the new markets will be eligible for some level of tax credit.
Come Jan. 1, virtually all Americans will be required to have coverage, or face fines. At the same time, insurance companies will no longer be able to turn away people in poor health.
The Obama administration, which is running the markets or taking the lead in 35 states, is not expected to release final premiums until close to the Oct. 1 launch date. But the two private studies provide an early look at the emerging market.
Caroline Pearson, lead author of the Avalere study, said it will be competitive, but there will be big price differences among age groups, states and even within states.
The bottom line is mixed: Many consumers will like their new options, particularly if they qualify for a tax credit. But others may have to stretch to afford coverage.
"We are seeing competitive offerings in every market if you buy toward the low end of what's available," said Pearson, a vice president of Avalere.
However, for uninsured people who are paying nothing today, "this is still a big cost that they're expected to fit into their budgets," Pearson added.
The Obama administration said consumers will have options that are cheaper than the averages presented in the Avalere study. "We're consistently seeing that premiums will be lower than expected," she said. "For the many people that qualify for a tax credit, the cost will be even lower."
The Kaiser study found that while premiums will vary significantly across the country, they are generally coming in lower than forecast by the government's own experts. It cautioned against comparing premiums under Obama's law to what individually insured people currently pay, because the new coverage is more robust.
Avalere crunched the numbers on premiums filed by insurers in 11 states and Washington, D.C. Kaiser analyzed 17 states and the District of Columbia. Both studies included a mix of states running their own insurance markets and ones in which the federal government will take charge.
The states analyzed by Avalere were California, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
In addition to those, Kaiser included Colorado, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oregon.
No data on premiums were publicly available for Texas and Florida - together they are home to more than 10 million of the nation's nearly 50 million uninsured people - and key to the law's success.
However, Pearson said she's confident the premiums in the Avalere study will be "quite representative" of other states, because clear pricing patterns emerged.
Four levels of plans will be available under Obama's law: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Bronze plans will cover 60 percent of expected medical costs; silver plans will cover 70 percent; gold will cover 80 percent and platinum 90 percent.
All plans cover the same benefits, but bronze features the lowest premiums, paired with higher deductibles and copays. Platinum plans would have the lowest out-of-pocket costs and the highest premiums.
Mid-range silver plans are considered the benchmark, because the tax credits will be keyed to the cost of the second-lowest-cost silver plan in a local area.
And there's another important detail for consumers to be aware of: People with modest incomes may come out ahead by sticking with a silver plan instead of going for the lower premiums with bronze. Additional help with out-of-pocket costs like copays will only be available to people enrolling in a silver plan.
Although the sticker price for premiums rises dramatically above age 40, the tax credits are shaping up as a powerful equalizer for older consumers. That's because they work by limiting what you pay for premiums to a given percentage of your income.
For example, someone making $23,000 would pay no more than 6.3 percent of his or her annual income - $1,450 - for a benchmark silver plan. The amount you pay stays the same whether the total premium is $3,000 or $9,000.
However, those tax credits taper off rapidly for people with solid middle-class incomes, above $30,000 for an individual and $60,000 for a family of four.
The Avalere study also found some striking price differences within certain states, generally larger ones. In New York, with 16 insurers participating, the difference between the cheapest and priciest silver premium was $418.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20130905/DA8K6IT00.html