5 things to know about enrolling in Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, insurance this year — and how to do it
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The enrollment period will be shorter this year. Enrollment will be 45 days long --
"In previous years, when the enrollment period went through the end of January, they could go online and change it" after the policy started, Henighan said. "This year, they're going to either have to drop it altogether, or continue. They won't have the option of looking to see if there's another plan that would work better for them."
The government isn't publicizing ACA enrollment as before. The current administration cut the budget for advertising from
Lack of publicity also contributes to the perception that the ACA marketplace was shut down after the 2016 election, said
"I often got calls from people trying to find out what else there is to replace the Affordable Care Act, because they thought it was gone," Davis said.
Premiums may go up, but most Tennesseans qualify for tax credits to help pay for them. Earlier this month, the federal government announced it would end cost-sharing reduction payments that help offset insurers' cost of offering silver plans to low-income customers. The current administration has also suggested it might end the individual mandate requiring all Americans to have health insurance coverage. Such uncertainty led insurers to ask the state to approve an increase in premiums -- an average of 36.5 percent for Cigna, a 21 percent average for BlueCross BlueShield. However, insurance plan prices released by the state don't include the tax credits that 88 percent of Tennesseans who purchase individual insurance policies on the marketplace receive, which can significantly reduce the price they pay out of pocket.
"Some people bought bronze plans" with lower premiums but much higher deductibles "because they didn't know there are subsidies to help them buy a silver plan," Headrick said.
The healthcare.gov website is better -- but signing up still is not an easy or quick process. Henighan said in recent years, the website has improved, with fewer pages and fewer outages, but it still takes him a minimum of 40 minutes to sign up someone even with no complications. And many people still arrive missing paperwork or without having set up an email address, which the site requires. In addition, assisters often find applicants qualify for TennCare/Medicaid instead of the ACA marketplace -- and many still fall in the "gap" left by a federal ruling that states don't have to expand Medicaid programs, so they qualify for neither. Too, people who mistakenly go to healthcare.com and healthcare.org will find lookalike sites that offer insurance quotes but are not the official government site with information on tax credits.
Tennesseans can get assistance free from an independent certified navigator by calling 844-644-5443 (615-724-1339 for Spanish) or visit enrollment events to get help in person.
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