Confused about Obamacare enrollment? Burden falls on Florida insurers and advocates
Scherr, 61, did the math. "It's substantially over 300 percent," she said. "I lost sleep. ... Healthcare is so out of reach. It's unbelievable. You really have to be rich and make a lot of money to be able to afford it."
What Scherr didn't know, and neither did Molina, is that the subsidy she receives from the government to lower her monthly premiums will rise, too -- enough that Scherr may find coverage in 2018 for even less than she paid this year.
With the fifth year of open enrollment for Affordable Care Act coverage due to begin
There are challenges including rising premiums, a shorter window to sign up, and confusion over the status of Obamacare.
And that's drowning out what should be a positive message for most of
That turned out to be true for Scherr. After browsing plans on HealthCare.gov this week, she discovered that her
The result? Scherr found out that she has several less-costly options.
She can downgrade from her standard plan to basic coverage for no monthly premiums and a
"I haven't made a definite decision," Scherr said. "But I feel much better."
As the future of the health law continues to be debated at the
Unlike prior open enrollments for the ACA exchange, the
"There have been messages coming out of HHS [
It's not just the messaging, Slavitt said. The Trump administration has slashed outreach for open enrollment -- reducing the marketing budget by 90 percent to
In response, insurers and enrollment groups say they have shifted their outreach efforts into high gear. And they're finding that consumers are frustrated and uncertain.
Many wonder whether they are even still required to get covered or pay a fine, said
Ray said it's difficult to communicate a message that many Floridians may see better value on the ACA exchange this year at the same time they are hearing about an average rate increase of 45 percent in
"All of the information that they're getting right now through media coverage is unfortunately just confusing," Ray said. "We've heard from consumers, they thought the whole thing was repealed already, so they stopped paying their premiums. It's to that extent."
The most urgent message that Ray wants to get across to ACA exchange consumers is that they have 45 days to sign up for 2018 coverage, compared to 90 days of open enrollment last year.
The Trump administration also warned that ACA exchange consumers will be automatically enrolled if they fail to sign up by
And the
However, the Trump administration has said it will staff the consumer call center with 11,000 people for open enrollment, the same number as last year. Starting
With a smaller grant this year, Ray said her group has hired fewer counselors and spent less on marketing.
"Everything took a hit," she said. "We have six weeks to help the same amount of people and we have less resources. I don't know if there is a formula that will give us the ability to do the same or more with less, but we are going to try."
Florida Covering Kids & Families has stretched its grant dollars, though, by calling consumers before open enrollment begins and signing them up for appointments through the group's website, CoveringFlorida.org.
Despite their best efforts, though, Ray worries that counselors will miss many working poor Floridians who move often and have limited resources for staying up-to-date with the health law.
"How many enrollments are you going to get from people who are the most vulnerable, hard to reach and in the highest need," she said. "They're not going to get as many because it takes longer to sign them up. It's complicated, but they need the help the most."
With fewer navigators and reduced government advertising, insurance companies like Florida Blue are using more advertisements, letters and emails to remind Obamacare consumers to sign up for 2018.
Florida Blue also plans to dispatch teams of counselors to community health fairs, and the insurer has already sent emails and letters to its estimated 1 million members with an ACA plan -- the most of any insurer in the state.
Though many
Shaffer's more concerned that the debate over Obamacare has caused consumers to tune out and ignore the law's requirements. She thinks some consumers may be willing to gamble that they won't have to pay a penalty for failing to enroll, given the Trump administration's executive order that federal agencies "minimize the economic burden" of Obamacare.
The
"You may have a reduction effect from the noise of, 'Did the thing go away? They voted so many times to repeal it. Has it actually gone away?'," Shaffer said. "It depends on how educated the consumer is about the current state of things, and it depends on how much somebody may be willing to bet they won't have to pay the penalty or it won't be enforced."
For consumers like Scherr, the
Each year during open enrollment, Scherr said, she feels the burden of researching plans, coverage options and benefits, and figuring out what she can afford to meet her needs. This year is different because of the many changes.
"I may have overlooked a few things the year before," she said. "This year, because of Trump, I'm a little bit kind of scared. But it forces me to look harder."
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