Get Covered with Individual Health Insurance in North Carolina

If you are in North Carolina and looking for health insurance for you or your family, we’re the health insurance broker ready to help you find the perfect Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plan to fit your healthcare needs.

Osborne Insurance Services has been the go-to consumer advocate for those in the Health Insurance Marketplace for years. Our team specializes in helping neighbors in our community find coverage that best suits you and your family’s needs.

We are proud to be an independent agency that puts people first and not the pockets of any one insurance company. Being independent, we’re able to explore every option available to you for several of the top, leading insurance providers in North Carolina.

Why Should I Go with Osborne Insurance Services?

It’s your choice, but here’s the truth: shopping around for your ACA health insurance is both highly important and complicated. Sometimes overwhelming! There are many plans to choose from, and additional benefits which may be available to you. It’s essential to have the right coverage, so how can you be sure you find it?

That’s where we come in. Osborne Insurance Services will help anybody in North Carolina – at no cost to you. As independent brokers, we don’t charge you for our services. Regardless of any difficulty you may face in shopping around and comparing plans, as the experts and your advocates, we can ensure you’re on the right path with the best plan for you, for your unique situation and lifestyle.

And on top of having the best in the industry behind you, we’ll help you avoid the worst in the industry: tax penalties, unnecessary payments, and the lost feeling that comes with not having an insurance expert on your side.

We will educate you and help you understand all the different levels of coverage available to you, make you aware of any out-of-pocket expenses, teach you about in-network versus out-of-network hospitals and doctors, and inform you on any complications you may face with certain plans.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Four Tiers

Often referred to as “Obamacare”, the Affordable Care Act organizes plans into four tiered categories, sometimes called “metal levels”, based on the amount each covers, on average, of a person’s total healthcare costs. They are the following:

Bronze

You may pay 40% on average, with your plan covering the rest.

Silver

You may pay 30% on average, with your plan covering the rest.

Gold

You may pay 20% on average, with your plan covering the rest.

Platinum

You may pay 10% on average, with your plan covering the rest.

These percentages are just averages, to be used as guidelines to help you understand the tiered system. Your total costs may depend on what services you use during the year.

Because of complex healthcare law and reform year-to-year, and the in’s and outs of understanding the ACA and your specific health insurance plan, it’s vital to select the correct plan.

Osborne Insurance Services is here to help make sure you’re in the best place possible with your insurance.

About Cost Share Reductions (CSR)

A Cost Share Reduction is discount that lowers the amount you have to pay for deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. In the Health Insurance Marketplace, CSRs are often called “extra savings.” If you qualify, you must enroll in a plan in the Silver category to get the extra savings.

  • When you fill out a Marketplace application, you’ll find out if you qualify for subsidies like premium tax credits and extra savings. You can use a premium tax credit for a plan in any metal category. But if you qualify for extra savings too, you’ll get those savings only if you pick a Silver plan.
  • If you qualify for cost-sharing reductions, you also have a lower out-of-pocket maximum — the total amount you’d have to pay for covered medical services per year. When you reach your out-of-pocket maximum, your insurance plan covers 100% of all covered services.

The idea behind CSRs is that lower income consumers qualify for better coverage since they have less money to spend on out-of-pocket costs.

How Can I Select a Plan?

Well, always begin with a conversation with us. As your agents and advocates, it’s why we’re here: to help you find the best plans!

Secondly, we want you to be equipped with the right information to make informed decisions for you and your family. Here’s our simple, five-step process to help you narrow your options:

  1. Figure out what’s necessary. Though injury and sudden illness are unpredictable, you can anticipate other medical needs. You may visit a medical specialist every so often, so find a plan that includes your preferred doctors and hospitals and offers low copayments for those visits.
  2. Don’t buy more than what’s necessary. You may not need certain benefits, so find out how you do without them. If you’re young and healthy, you may want to look at a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) for the considerably lower premium.
  3. Review your plan’s network. Make sure your preferred doctors and hospitals are in-network on whatever plans you’re looking at.
  4. Be informed! Learn what your share of healthcare costs may be in certain scenarios, from copays to premiums to deductibles. And, know what your annual limits on coverage and services may be.
  5. Understand your out-of-pocket maximum. The total of your cost share (copays, deductible, etc.) accumulates toward this number, and you are completely done when you reach it; from there the plan pays 100% of all covered in-network services for the rest of the calendar year. Be aware of this number and choose a plan that works for your budget.