@momplus3 Hey, I had the EXACT same thing happen to me, I freaked out cause i can’t afford 300 dollars for health insurance either… I got scammed after doing a search for health insurance quotes, some guy called and talked me into a private plan that covered everything with no co pays or deductibles and was $327 a month, and then after i paid for the first month i realized it was pretty much a scam… not real insurance, and my phone rang off the hook from other people from that same company…. i was super lucky to get a hold of someone and it was like pulling teeth to get my money back so DONT search anything on google for health insurance unless it’s from the the NY state of health website, you can’t trust it. My advice- when i called the NYSOH representative he told me that I can redo my application, based on what I am projecting to make this year (cause 2023 i had half a year of 50 hours a week) I filled out the application and sent it in. In the meantime i DID qualify for $458 dollars a month to put towards a marketplace plan. they aren’t as good as the essential plan, but i was able to find a silver tier Independent health plan for $676 a month, which meant i would pay 218. And the deductible wasn’t too crazy, and all my generic prescriptions , and my personal types of medical needs (like my primary doctor, psychiatrist, outpatient substance abuse and any Telehealth appointments) were all regular copays. Depending on how often you go to the doctors there are cheaper ones i saw for like $500+ that would have cost me like 50 dollars a month, but those plans are basically for people who rarely go to the doctor, and don’t take much medicine. In the mean time i tried to find things that i was wasting money on, and subscriptions to stuff, and i cancelled a bunch of them to help offset my new 218 premium. but then today i got an email saying that i have been reenrolled in my previous coverage under the essential plan based off my new application when i estimated what i would make in 2024, rather than going off my 2023 tax returns. so..
1) fill out your entire renewal application with your best guess of what you will make.
2) If you are not that much over the qualifying amount, then you will probably qualify at least for the $458 credit per month.
3) look through the plans because you can find something that not too too bad after the tax credit (that gets automatically applied, and you don’t have to apply for it separately)
4) keep checking for any changes regarding your eligibility for the essential, cause you may get reenrolled based on your projected income.
That obviously would be ideal, but of you still don’t qualify, start looking to choose a plan and apply your tax credit to it, If you are just looking for catastrophic plans that only emergencies, you can find plans on there that will be less than your tax credit and basically free, not great plans, or for like 150-250
a month there are some decent plans and you can compare them on the site and everything. I wish you the best and hopefully your projected salary will qualify you. don’t put your phone number on ANY “health insurance quotes” in still getting non stop calls from random numbers…