If you buy your own health insurance, this one's for you. Plus if you usually pay for your family's insurance through your employer, read on.
Much of ACA coverage stays the same from year to year, But in the past year, the Biden administration and Congress have taken steps that will affect 2023 coverage, and could reduce your cost. Meanwhile, recent court decisions have triggered questions about coverage for abortion and preventive care.
For example, we usually think of health insurance plans purchased through the exchanges being for people who aren’t eligible for insurance through an employer, or who can’t afford their employers’ insurance. But in the past, that affordability calculation only took the individual worker into account. And as anyone who has kids can tell you, insuring a whole family tends to be much more expensive. Now, many families will have a choice between employer coverage and subsidized ACA coverage, which could be a better deal. Also, insurers can no longer deny coverage to people who still owe payments on a previous plan.
When it comes to abortion coverage, the rules vary a lot across states. Some are restricting abortion coverage, a few are requiring it, and there’s lots of ambiguity in the middle.
As always, health insurance is complicated. Here are six things to consider before choosing a plan.
Plus: HMO? Deductible? Check our handy health insurance glossary.
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If you’ve been reading this newsletter regularly, I hope you’ve gathered that we at NPR Health want you to be healthy and safe, AND we also want you to have fun! And no matter how many jokes my editor lets me pack into the weekly email, nothing beats a night out on the town.
Of course, nights out are also infamous for going wrong– like when a stranger sits down next to you on the train and insists on reciting his slam poetry to you specifically– or of course much worse. But there are simple ways to minimize the risk of unwanted interactions and increase your chances of getting home safe and sound.
Some of these are counterintuitive-- like purposely making eye contact with passersby on the street. Others are beautiful in their simplicity, like holding a drink to indicate that you don’t need a stranger to buy you one, thank you very much. NPR Kroc fellow Michelle Aslam spoke with a health and safety educator and the moderators of a personal safety group. She came back with these tips– and advice on whether those self-defense TikToks really work.
Also: Fires from exploding e-bike batteries multiply in NYC — sometimes fatally |
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We hope you enjoyed these stories. Find more of NPR's health journalism on Shots and follow us on Twitter at @NPRHealth.
All our best,
Andrea Muraskin and your Shots editors |
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