RENO, Nev. (KOLO) -For the last 11 years Nevadans have signed up for health insurance through an exchange where private companies offer various plans from which to choose.
These days the marketplace is known as Health Link and the latest numbers show 97,000 Nevadans or about 10% more people will have health care coverage by January 1, 2025.
“One of the reasons is Medicaid is unwinding,” says Katie Charleson with Nevada Health Link of the increase. “People who are no longer eligible of Medicaid, they were kicked off after four years of the pandemic. And this last year, they redetermined all those people. If you were over income, you could no longer have Medicaid. So, I think a lot of those people didn’t take action over the year and are now taking action to enroll in health insurance.”
For 2025 in Washoe County there are seven insurance carriers offering 71 different plans. In rural Nevada four carriers are offering 46 plans.
Prices and premiums vary. But Charleson says nine out of 10 people will qualify for some kind of subsidy to off-set the price.
She says 50% of those signing up for insurance through the exchange will pay less than $100 a month in premiums.
“A family in Washoe County making $81,000 dollars a year which is the average income for a family of four in Washoe, it could mean a subsidy of $1300 dollars a month,” says Charleson. “That is applied toward their premium. So, the bronze plan for that family would start at $0 dollars a month.”
She says for those who already have insurance through the exchange from last year and like the plan and are current with payments, the plan will automatically roll over for 2025 if no action is taken.
But she suggests looking around on the website to see if there’s a better plan for the current life situation.
Buying insurance can be confusing. But just as with previous years, there are brokers out there that can help find the best plan at no charge.
New for 2025, DACA residents or those who are working in Nevada legally can sign up and possibly qualify for subsidies.
Health Link will not share that information with immigration or law enforcement.
“These are for people that have a work authorization, so they have their DACA paperwork–they have that work authorization that they received,” says Charleson. “They usually have a Social Security Card, and they are working Nevadans. They weren’t eligible before to get subsidies now are eligible to come on the exchange and get subsidies to lower the price of that monthly premium”.
Also new this year are these QR Codes. They are on billboards, or community sponsored events. Brokers will be there to answer questions. The code will take you to the website, where you can compare policies and prices.
Enrollees have until December 31, 2024, to receive coverage starting January 1, 2025.
The deadline for coverage in 2025 is January 15th.
All of this information can be found:
www. nevadahealthlink.com
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