The deadline for buying 2016 health insurance through healthcare.gov is days away. And Montana’s Commissioner of Insurance warns that consumers should study up on the plan they’re thinking about buying, because the wrong plan could result in a fine.
Commissioner Monica Lindeen says that, this year, the tax penalty for failing to have minimum coverage required by federal law is $695.00 per adult, or 2.5 percent of your gross income – whichever is higher.
"We’ve always had issues with people purchasing certain types of short term plans that they think are going to cover certain aspects and it turns out it doesn’t."
Lindeen says there are a few questions to ask when buying health care insurance: Does the plan cover pre-existing conditions; is renewal of the insurance plan guaranteed; is there a lifetime or annual payout limit on the plan?
"If the answer is 'no' to any one of those three questions, then that is an issue and it does not meet the minimum threshold," Lindeen says.
The current period of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act ends Sunday night.
The Commissioner’s office has a website to help navigate questions about health insurance.
