The first big milestone in the ACA Open Enrollment period is next Thursday night. If you want coverage that starts on January 1, 2023, you need to select your plan by 11:59PM local time. You’ll then have two weeks to make arrangements to make the first payment if you either choose a non-zero premium plan or you choose a different insurer or you transition from a zero premium plan to a not zero premium plan at the same insurer.
One of the critical things that people who are currently enrolled SHOULD DO is actively go into the Healthcare.gov or state marketplace account and make an active choice. Insurers are currently in the process of mapping current enrollee to 2023 plans or already placed people into default 2023 plans depending on the state you’re in. These defaults, in most states, are fairly crude matches that don’t take into account premium or other comprehensive revealed preferences.
So look around even if you’re pretty happy with your plan and your premium this year. An automatic default plan might not have the same premium next year as it does this year. Sometimes it will be cheaper. It may be more expensive; occasionally a lot more expensive (manuscript under development right now). So look around!
Ohio Mom
Thanks. I forwarded to a few youngsters I know who don’t yet have jobs that provide health coverage — they are the prototypical gig economy workers.
As for me, I enjoy that I personally don’t need to know any details about the ACA enrollment. Wading through my Medicare options is enough.
Butch
I re-enrolled us several weeks ago but we’re still getting e-mails telling us we haven’t made a choice yet. I called the Healthcare.gov telephone line and was told we’re fine. Are we OK?
Miss Bianca
I went through a broker and enrolled in a different plan. Still got a “hi, do you want to re-enroll?” notice from my current insurers.
AM in NC
Hi David,
I have a question about the options on the NC exchange. My husband and I sold our business this year and are going onto the exchange for the first time. We have always had BCBSNC (either as a UNC employee or as our business’s policy), but it looks like, of the exchange options, Aetna/CVS covers the providers we want.
We have two questions:
The number of policy options offered is insane. This is not a reasonable way to get people the medical coverage/care we need. And my husband has more experience in this than most, as he worked with our broker over the years to select our company policy. How do people with only limited educations begin to wade through this?
Not sure if you can answer, but thank you for your posts because they are helpful!!!!
David Anderson
@AM in NC: Hi AM —
Congrats.
Aetna is fine as a company. It has it quirks but its business strategy is not to actively screw you over.
And yes, within the same company, what is covered is almost always a constant but the cost of coverage will vary. The big thing to pay attention to will be the network. It is not unusual for an insurer to offer multiple networks (sets of doctors and hospitals you can use) in the same area with the same cost-sharing design @ the same metal level.
So make sure the network (the docs/hospitals) are right and you should be in OKAY-ish shape.
AM in NC
@David Anderson: Thank you, David! That’s kind of what we thought, but this is so far out of our bailiwick, it is good to have some actual knowledge slapped on us.
PaulB
I re-enrolled a week ago. I did end up picking the same company but I made sure to review my options. Sadly, my premiums have increased by around 40%. I double-checked, and there are massive increases across the board here in Washington State, regardless of level and regardless of company.
I’m going to be very happy when I’m finally eligible for Medicare.