• (888) 505-7724
  • updates@sbmamec.com
  • Employer Portal
  • Employee Portal
SBMA Benefits
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Services
  • Benefit Plans
  • Employees
  • Employers
  • Resources
    • Compliance Updates
    • No Surprises Act Resource Page
    • COVID-19 Vaccine & Testing Updates
    • SmithRx Formulary
    • COBRA
    • At-Home COVID-19 Tests
  • News & Insights
  • Contact SBMA
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

What You Need to Know During Open Enrollment

The open enrollment period for 2020 is here! It’s time to consider whether or not to enroll in a new health insurance plan or change your health insurance plan. To begin, you need to understand what benefits you can receive with minimum essential coverage. If your employer offers Minimum Essential Coverage and you’ve been hesitant to enroll, let us help you understand how MEC can give you the essential health benefits you need most.

What is MEC?

Minimum essential coverage is an insurance plan that meets the Affordable Care Act requirements for health insurance coverage. Plans under MEC include marketplace, job-based plans, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Before the Affordable Care Act, insurers would not cover people who had preexisting medical conditions. Those who had used too much of their medical coverage in the past were also at risk of not receiving insurance coverage. MEC ensures that insurance is offered to all enrollees regardless of health status, or the plan selected.

What is open enrollment?

Open enrollment is a period where individuals and employees can change or enroll in health insurance. During this period employees can also set up a flex spending account or health savings account. They can also sign up for and adjust the number of various types of insurance, including:

  • life insurance
  • disability insurance
  • vision insurance
  • dental insurance
  • legal insurance
  • supplemental benefits

What coverage uses open enrollment?

Most types of health insurance use open enrollment periods, including Medicare, job-based health insurance, and individual market health insurance. Outside the open enrollment period, individuals must show proof of a “life event” such as marriage, childbirth, or new employment to be able to change insurance coverage. However, Medicaid, CHIP, travel insurance, and short-term health insurance do not use an open enrollment period.

Why should I consider MEC during open enrollment?

MEC covers ten essential benefits in order to ensure everyone can receive proper coverage. These benefits include:

  • Laboratory services: preventative screening tests and diagnostic lab tests
  • Emergency services: emergency care at a hospital, even at a hospital out of network.
  • Prescription drugs
  • Mental health and substance abuse: includes counseling, psychotherapy, mental health, inpatient services, and treatment for substance abuse.
  • Maternity and newborn care: services during pregnancy, delivery, and after delivery
  • Pediatric services (including oral and vision): These services keep your children healthy. They include dental checkups, eye exams, vaccinations, and well-child visits.
  • Rehabilitative services and devices: A patient with disabilities, injuries, or chronic conditions receives coverage for physical, occupations, and speech therapy visits.
  • Habilitative services and devices: A patient can receive coverage for services and devices that help them learn and improve daily skills.
  • Ambulance patient services: services in outpatient care
  • Preventative/ wellness services and chronic disease management: including cancer screenings, annual checkups, and more at no cost.
  • Hospital visits: if you are in the hospital for inpatient care, your plan will help you pay your medical bills. However, it may only cover you for a certain period of time.

Minimum essential coverage can be an affordable option to ensure you and your family are covered during times of need. At SBMA we provide affordable coverage for all of our clients, with a variety of options, including telehealth, vision, and dental voluntary benefits.

Why Should I Consider MEC During Open Enrollment
Learn more about Affordable Benefits, talk with one of our team members!

Search

Categories

LATEST NEWS IN ACA COMPLIANCE

  • Full-Time vs Part-Time Benefits:Full-Time vs Part-Time Benefits: Why It MattersJanuary 1, 2023 - 7:00 am
  • Affordable care act ACA or Obamacare and stethoscope.Received an ACA Penalty from the IRS? Here’s What to DoDecember 25, 2022 - 12:25 pm
  • affordable care act requirementsACA is Here to StayNovember 20, 2022 - 8:00 am

Archive

CONNECT WITH US

USEFUL LINKS

EMPLOYER PORTAL
EMPLOYEE PORTAL
PRIVACY POLICY 
THE BLOG

CONTACT SBMA

888-505-7724
UPDATES@SBMAMEC.COM

HOURS

Mon – Fri: 7:00am—5:00pm (PST)
Sat: CLOSED
Sun: CLOSED

FOLLOW US

© SBMA 2022 – all rights reserved

site designed by digitalstoryteller.io

© SBMA 2021 – all rights reserved
site designed by digitalstoryteller.io

Is Zoom HIPAA compliant?Is Zoom HIPAA compliant?Why is Preventative Care so Important During COVID?Why is Preventative Care so Important During COVID? Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Accept settings

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Accept settings