Web Site Successes

Last night while surfing through Facebook, I noticed that a former classmate had posted about getting enrolled in health insurance.  In reading through the comments to the post, I found that others got enrolled yesterday as well.  I couldn’t figure out why the sudden interest in trying to enroll again.  Then, it dawned on me. 

Today is December 2.  The Obama Administration said that healthcare.gov would be working for the majority of people by yesterday.  Many have doubted this. 

Fixes

The administration claims that it has met this goal.  It claims that the Web site is working 90% of the time as compared to 43% back when enrollment opened on October 1. 

Lags in time can still be a problem, however, and those working on the fixes admit that they would like to get the site’s response time down to half a second. 

They also are unsure if the Web site can now handle 50,000 people at one time.  They won’t know until that many try to access it at once.  

Successes

Back to my former classmate, it took her a little under an hour to enroll.  For her friends, it took about a half hour on average.  These times are back on track with the estimated time pre-enrollment opening. 

By the way, all of these enrollees are healthy young adults in their 20s.  They are helping to even out the pool and can help balance insurance costs.

They all found cheaper plans than what they were previously paying. After subsidies, one person will be paying $40/ month. 

They will have coverage beginning January 1.  If you enroll by December 23 (and make your first payment by December 30), you can too!

My organization’s Certified Application Counselor is planning to have an enrollment session at our office on Wednesday.  I will update you all on the successes and failures of it.  Will we have access to complete the entire enrollment process?  How long will it take on average?  What types of glitches are still present? 

I am hopeful, and I think it can only get better in the next three months before the enrollment period ends.  Let’s attempt to get covered again America!

Enrollment Updates

Local
Today, our Certified Application Counselor was finally able enroll someone online!

The woman was able to look at different plans and compare them.

The woman was paying over $500 a month for insurance.  She selected a plan is $250/ month, and with her tax subsidy, it will end up costing her $70/ month. 

Stay tuned for more details on this story!

*As a side note, though, navigators and certified application counselors (CACs) do not have any special access or magic powers to access the Marketplace. Our CAC has been receiving many phone calls from people looking for her to get them access to the Web site.  The best they can do is sit down with you and hope it works.  If not, they can at least educate you about the law and answer any questions you may have. 

National
We just learned on a conference call that the enrollment period for January 1 coverage has been extended from December 15 now to December 23.

The enrollment period for 2015 will now take place November 15, 2014- January 15, 2015 (It was pushed back a month and extended by a week).

Keep Calm Enrollment Carries On

In a recent Gallup Poll, only a small percentage of uninsured people have visited either the federal or a state-run marketplace.

Percentage who have visited a marketplace:

18% of all uninsured adults polled 

22% of uninsured adults who plan on purchasing coverage

About 1 in four uninsured adults say they plan on paying the fine.  About half say they plan on purchasing coverage. 

How I See It

With all of the news, I get worried about whether enough people will enroll in health coverage this year to really make a difference on the cost.  In taking time to think about everything rationally instead of just reacting on emotion, I am now less worried.

Enrollment has only been open for five weeks.  There are 20 more weeks to enroll.  We can break that down into four 5-week periods.  If 22% visit a marketplace and enroll during each one of these four increments, then basically everyone who said they would enroll will have enrolled by time March 31^st comes around.   

I doubt many people are trying to put up with the botched federal website.  And some of the state-run exchanges have glitches as well.  My guess is more people will visit these sites and begin enrollment in January.  The technological kinks should be worked out by then. 

People also will have had the opportunity to learn about the ACA before visiting and enrolling.  In fact, with the exchanges being so awful, many navigators and certified application counselors have taken to educating communities.  That way, when everything is properly running, people will be well prepared for how enrollment will work and for what is the best sort of option for themselves. 

I also know that our certified application counselor’s phone rings at least once an hour every day.  Today she had 20 voicemail messages left from this weekend.  People are interested.  People want insurance.  People want to be educated on what is best for them.  In fact, when Romneycare first rolled out in Massachusetts, on average, people had 18 interactions with the exchange before finally enrolling.  They were researching their options and taking time to understand how they were affected.  There was a surge in enrollment during the last two months of Romneycare enrollment.  Seven years later, 97% of people in Massachusetts are insured.  

Fear not.  Stay logical.  Get insurance.  Get and stay healthy.