Healthcare.gov is due to close its doors to new, open enrollment sign-ups in sixteen hours for people in my time zone.
Stop reading this blog and go sign up if you need insurance for next year.
Open thread for help, assistance and celebration.
Reader Interactions
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satby
I did! If you’re having trouble, try a broker like this one. Seriously only took 15 minutes. May take more time in the last minute rush, but it gets you covered in a reasonable amount of time and it found me a good subsidized plan… Made a task I was dreading almost painless.
rikyrah
You are a gem, Mayhew.
Thanks for everything.
Spanky
Yes! Thank you for staying on top of this. I’ve got employer coverage, but if I didn’t I know I’d be one to need constant reminding. People appreciate it!
WV Blondie
Relatively urgent question – I signed up about two weeks ago through Healthcare.gov. At the end, it said my application wouldn’t be complete until I paid the Jan. 2018 invoice. But I’m paranoid; my insurer never bills me until the 15th of the previous month, so today, and last year they buggered it up and tried to bill me the full (unsubsidized) amount. It took weeks to get it straight.
I’ve checked my page on my insurer’s site and it still doesn’t show an invoice for next month. Am I in any danger of losing coverage as long as I get the insurer straightened out by Jan. 1?
kate p
I asked this last night on yesterday’s thread but kind of late so I will try again. I am helping my son and family again this year. They are also in St Louis area. Shocking how few choices there are. It is Cigna or some company I have never heard of. $600 for a Bronze plan and over $1000 for Silver. The deducible is $7000 for Bronze and $3700 for Silver but max out of pocket is exactly the same. I’m pretty sure the Bronze is the way to go, I can’t see a downside. Am I missing something here? Thanks for the help.
Carolina Dave
My wife an I made the decision to NOT renew our ACA BCBS coverage for 2018. Collectively we moved out of subsidy range with our current income, and the 2018 plans offered in our County are a nightmare/scam. BCBS is left as the sole provider of ACA exchange plans.
Our silver plan is changing to one costing $1834/mo with a deductible of $8000, which has to be met before most coinsurance kicks in. As David Anderson pointed out, Gold is a better option at $1883/mo with a $5000 deductible.
Bronze is $1330/mo with a deductible of $13,300.
These are ridiculous options. It’s the equivalent of a 2nd mortgage payment for a house we can’t sleep in until we spend thousands of additional dollars.
We’re looking at joining a PPO coop, but that’s not insurance.
Not sure what our other options are, apart from me selling my small business and going to work for a company with decent/affordable health care benefits.
BCBS claims they lost half a billion dollars on ACA plans in 2016, and says their losses were affected by NC rejecting Medicaid expansion.
How did we get here?
From Both Sides of the Pond
What are the current odds on CHIP getting re-upped? Saw that it was supposed to get five years at the cost of the public health fund as part of the tax reform bill – is that likely to happen, and will it happen in time for the looming Jan 31 date for several states?
randy khan
Thanks for these posts. I’ve been sharing the information with friends who use the exchanges, and they’ve been glad to get it.
David Anderson
@WV Blondie: call your insurer to belt and suspender it, get the customer service rep name/ID number and take notes as to what they said. You should be fine but a phone call won’t hurt.
David Anderson
@kate p: The new company in St. Louis is Centene under one of their state specific brand names.
If the OOP-Max of Bronze and Silver are the same, then the difference in premium buys some protection for the probability of medical spending between the Silver deductible and the Bronze deductible ($3,300 for a single individual, probably $6,600 for a family) You’re paying an extra $4,800/year to gain a maximum of $6,600 in protection (probably less than that given that Missouri IIRC Silver Loaded )
So Bronze probably makes a lot of sense.
David Anderson
@From Both Sides of the Pond: I don’t know yet
Mnemosyne
@Carolina Dave:
I’m sure you already know this, but let’s be very clear about where to direct your ire: your state’s government decided to screw you and everyone else in your state who needs insurance. The problem is not “Obamacare” like they’re going to try and tell you. The problem is that your state government decided they didn’t want you and your neighbors to have affordable insurance.
So the question to start asking your neighbors is, what are they planning to do about it? Are they happy with the services being provided by their state government, or is it time for a change?
Humboldtblue
For those of you in California the deadline to sign up under Covered California has been extended until December 22nd.
Acallidryas
*sigh* Finally picked a plan. This is our third year on the exchanges, which have been great. Cheaper to cover my family through then than my work, which only paid my premiums and my husband is self employed. We don’t get subsidies, but it was still affordable.
This year our premium doubled. I’ve heard from other parts of VA that the premiums were 2-3 times higher. We had to decide between paying $50 less than the new price for a gold plan, or paying the same amount for a bronze plan that our pediatrician doesn’t take. Thanks, Trump!
Avi
Done. Paying $180/month for a CSR silver narrow-network BCBS plan similar to what I have now. It’s twice what I paid in 2017, but part of that is attributable to higher income next year, so… yay?