I am 24 in California, making around $1.6K-2K a month.
I’m in a bit of a complicated position, and this is my first time navigating through all this. I started my first job in December 2023 and my boss told me that I needed health insurance, so he directed me to an insurance service. They asked me for my expected annual income, which I overestimated as I just started the job and didn’t really know my hours. I chose a Kaiser health insurance plan with a premium of around $200/month.
It’s been 9 months now, and I just realized I am making significantly less than what I told him since my hours are all over the place, so I applied for health insurance (hopefully for medical, since it said I was eligible with my income) through Covered California.
I really want to cancel this Kaiser insurance since it’s been quite expensive for my income, but don’t really know if I am able to since I went through a 3rd party service? I did a bit of research online and saw that you would need a life changing event, and I did move apartments around 3 months ago.
Side note: The insurance service company sent me a message a couple months ago saying I need to pay my premium through Kaiser now, which I did not see until recently. I missed 3 months worth of payments for my insurance…would I need to pay this off before I’m able to cancel?
Kind of freaking out right now, any help is appreciated.
Hi! I work for a different ACA plan. I used to live in California and had Kaiser until it became too expensive. When does your new plan start? Just call Kaiser and let them know you have a new plan and need to cancel at the end of the month before your new plan begins. For example, if your new plan starts on 10/1, you only need Kaiser until 9/30. Also, make sure to turn off any automatic payments so they won’t charge you.
If you missed the past three months, you will need to pay them. If you saw a doctor or filled prescriptions, those costs won’t be covered, and you’ll owe the full price if Kaiser cancels your plan retroactively back to three months ago.
We need a bit more information. That person might have been a “broker” selling you a private plan, which isn’t what you want. Or they could have been an “agent” working for Covered CA, helping you enroll in the same plans you could sign up for yourself on the Covered CA website.
To check, look at Covered CA and see if it shows you enrolled in the old plan.
Call or make an appointment to see if you qualify for another plan through the health department. My son just went through this. His income was recently cut, too. He got coverage for free because he had stage 3 cancer at 29 and no insurance. The doctor found it necessary to save his life through surgery. Now, seven years later, they said he made too much money last year. But I’m sure this will go back to $0.