Obamacare leaves NJ consumers struggling to buy insurance as deadlines near
By Michael L. Diamond, Asbury Park Press, N.J. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
He clicked the prompt on the website, Healthcare.gov, to send him a new user name and password. It sent him a new user name. But not a new password.
They have found, while trying to sign up, that there are more obstacles than a glitch-filled website and confusion over whether they can keep their old insurance. Namely, they are trying to fit their complicated, sometimes imperfect lives into an equally complicated law.
Each flare-up is a hit to a law regulating a health care industry whose economic model seems to be tied together by old shoelaces. But through it all, experts said it is too late to roll back the reforms. The state has already signed off on prices of insurance policies sold in 2014, said
"This reform is going to move forward," Knowlton said. "The issue is not that you have unforeseen consequences. The issue is you react to it as a calamity instead of an opportunity to make it better."
Enacted in 2010, the Affordable Care Act is designed to cover more consumers, slow the rise in health care costs and help Americans live healthier lives. But the full impact is only reaching consumers now; beginning in 2014, most of them are required to have health insurance or pay a fee.
The biggest changes are in store for the nearly 1 million New Jerseyans who don't have insurance and 800,000 New Jerseyans who are covered by policies they bought from the individual market or their employer bought through the small employer market.
The rollout has come littered with minefields.
First, the federal government's website, Healthcare.gov, hasn't worked properly from day one,
Second, President
To quiet the political fallout, Obama let states decide if consumers could keep their expensive -- and less comprehensive -- policies. The move quickly elicited complaints from actuaries who said young and healthy consumers would take their old policies, leaving older and sicker consumers to choose from policies on the exchange. It was a recipe for higher premiums on the exchange.
As a practical matter, little changed. Many insurers already have been letting customers renew their non-complaint policies early, even if those plans weren't scheduled to lapse until some time in 2014. The renewed policies still might be more expensive than the old ones, but it would give consumers another year before they need to go through the exercise again.
Yet it muddied the already muddy water. Horizon on Friday said it wanted to bring back one popular product, but it couldn't because it didn't meet federal requirements. The company said it was being blamed unfairly for the decision, even though its hands were tied by the federal government.
Hike in prices
Rather than go on his wife's policy, which would have been expensive, Brock last year found a plan from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of
In October, Horizon sent Brock a letter saying the plan, called Horizon EPO Plus, wouldn't be renewed when it expires
It was a popular plan. More than 70 percent of
With the lower price came restrictions that no longer are allowed. The plan, for example, capped the amount Horizon paid for diagnostic tests at
Brock sat down at his computer and, without a working password, managed to at least browse the plans on HealthCare.gov. Up popped dozens of plans, many of which were comparable in price --
But the site didn't ask for much personal information. And he couldn't find details about deductibles, co-pays and other out-of-pocket costs.
He then went to the Horizon site, which asked for more details, including the ages of his three children.
The premium for Horizon Advance EPO Silver was
The cost of the policy was broken down by family member. His share was
Meantime, the insurance plan on Horizon's site came with a disclaimer: "Once you are enrolled, a complete list of details and exclusions will be provided."
How can you have somebody sign up if you don't know all of the details, he wondered.
Confusing choices
From Brock's home office, it was an example of the confusion consumers are encountering. It is difficult enough these days for consumers to remember their user names and passwords, much less trudge through the jargon of the insurance world and decipher premiums, deductibles, PPOs, EPOs and actuarial values.
The difference this year isn't that dramatic from before the Affordable Care Act. But now consumers, once shielded from the gritty details of insurance plans by their employers or brokers, are going to be on the hook for more of the cost. Just how much isn't clear. The website for <location value="LS/us.nj" idsrc="xmltag.org">New Jersey consumers doesn't work as it should.
"People change plans every year," said
"What is important here on the individual side is for the marketplace to be working for folks to have access to plans and subsidies," he said. "We have to get that right."
Making the law work, even one as complicated as the Affordable Care Act, shouldn't be an insurmountable task. But
"The only way (the law) can be fixed is if (politicians) get out of their own way," Oscar said. "They're talking to executives. They're not talking to people on the streets. Both sides of the aisle are afraid of each other and don't want anything to do with each other. Unless these people get out of, let's call it 'government world,' it can't be fixed."
Seeking short-term relief
Even with the exchange's balky website, Brock had options. He could go to HealthSherpa.com, which provides premium costs and subsidy information to consumers. He could join his wife's plan. Or he could see if Horizon would renew his policy before the end of the year since the new regulations only apply to policies being sold that go into effect
The renewal still might be more expensive. But it would give him another 11 months before he would need to enroll again, said
But one truth was beginning to emerge: He has found himself in the segment of consumers who likely will pay more both for insurance and for health care.
"Even if you're healthy, I've got to believe you're going to spend
___
(c)2013 the Asbury Park Press (Neptune, N.J.)
Visit the Asbury Park Press (Neptune, N.J.) at www.app.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 1624 |
Anthony Ottilio of Spring Lake sues Valley National Bank, claiming conspiracy
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News