300 Plus FAQs Help Consumers Understand the ACA Marketplaces as Open Enrollment Begins

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation issued the following news release, dated Oct. 28:

Ahead of the annual Affordable Care Act (ACA) open enrollment period, the time during which consumers can shop for health plans or renew existing coverage, KFF has updated and expanded its searchable collection of more than 300 Frequently Asked Questions about open enrollment, the health insurance marketplaces and the ACA.

Designed to help consumers and the navigators, brokers and others who assist them, the FAQs cover a wide range of topics including eligibility for subsidies, requirements for health coverage and information about health plans offered through state ACA marketplaces.

The updated collection includes a new section addressing the sale of Marketplace plans on private websites, sometimes described as "direct enrollment" sites or "certified enrollment partner" sites, as well as new answers to questions about immigration status and enrollment options for those affected by Hurricane Dorian.

More than 180 of the FAQs in the collection are available in Spanish.

Open enrollment for the Federal and most state marketplaces begins Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 and ends on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019. Organizations assisting consumers are encouraged to link to the FAQ web page. Each question and answer may be shared individually by direct link, via Twitter and Facebook.

In addition to the FAQs, KFF also offers short, printable fact sheets on four common scenarios for consumers shopping for health plans:

* If You Shop on Private Websites Instead of HealthCare.gov

* If You Buy Health Coverage in the Individual Market

* For Consumers Considering Short-Term Policies

* If You Are Low-Income

KFF's Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator will soon be updated with 2020 premium data. Visit https://www.kff.org/understanding-health-insurance for KFF's most current resources for consumers looking for answers about open enrollment, the marketplaces and health insurance in general.