The ninth annual ACA open enrollment period started on November 1, 2021, and it runs through January 15, 2022. This period is longer than it has been previously. Because of that, we also wanted to run through the latest changes and updates for ACA 2022.
Changes to Choices and Premiums
As with previous years, marketplace premiums are changing for 2022. They will be about 3% lower than 2021. 32 more insurers are participating in the marketplace next year as well, bringing the total to 213.
According to KFF, consumers in the marketplace will have a choice of almost 83 health plans in 2022, up from 46 plan choices in 2021.
The American Rescue Plan Act also changed the healthcare marketplace plans and premiums. ARPA, among other things, extended eligibility for premium tax credits to include people with income levels more than 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL).
When broken down, consumers on these plans end up contributing a maximum of 8.5% of their income toward the benchmark silver plan.
Active Renewal Is Your Best Bet
If you or your employees are currently enrolled in a 2021 marketplace plan, you can let the Open Enrollment period pass and you will automatically be moved to a similar plan for 2022.
But active renewal is still your best bet when it comes to ACA 2022. If you allow the marketplace to passively enroll you in a similar program to previous years, you may end up paying more in monthly premiums because the 2022 ARPA changes aren’t optimized for your ideal plan.
Extremely Low-Income Enrollment
For individuals with very low income levels (up to 150% FPL), a new monthly enrollment opportunity will be available. These opportunities will include zero-premium plans with greatly reduced deductibles.
State-Based Marketplaces
This year, three states have launched state-based marketplaces in Kentucky, Maine, and New Mexico.
The Future of ACA Marketplace Enrollment
Due to a special COVID-based enrollment period that ended in August of 2021, marketplace participation hit a record high of 12.2 million people this year. But even with this big push, there are still only about 1 in 4 people who are uninsured or buy their own insurance even checked to see if they were eligible for marketplace plans and premiums.
Since ACA compliance is always shifting, you can find more information about some of the big questions and new requirements by reading our previous blog article on the topic.
E-Filing ACA Forms Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
If you have more questions about the healthcare coverage, you can go to Healthcare.gov’s website and get coverage, update your plan, and browse the resources.
As part of our service, we electronically file your 1099, 1098, and ACA forms with the IRS and W-2 forms with the SSA. As a payee, you can submit paper forms with the IRS. But filing on paper is both time-consuming and tedious. Filing 1099 forms electronically is much more convenient.
Need help e-filing ACA Forms? Sign up for a free eFile360 account.