While waiting for healthcare.gov

[NW-Bound]

From the above post by rockymountainhigh, out of curiosity, I went on the Colorado state exchange, punched in a ZIP code for Denver, and saw some prices similar to what I got on ehealthinsurance but for my AZ location. Yep, both are about $500 more than what I am paying with my existing pre-ACA policy.

It's only the healthcare.gov site that promises premiums below what I am paying now, while at the same time saying those do not even include subsidy. And it also offers no details on copays and deductibles like ehealthinsurance and specific web sites of the insurers.

I fear that there's misinformation that is going to disappoint people who get excited about the low cost promised by healthcare.gov.

As of one week ago, I told my wife we may just keep our existing pre-ACA insurance for another year until the dust settles. That looks more likely now, though I have invested quite a few hours surfing, looking for info.

And about the requirement for proof of income, the case of early retirees who can "define" their own level of income is not understood at all by the bureaucracy, judging from a post on another thread. That poster said that if they are not happy with your "proof of income", they will yank your policy by Jan 4, 2014. That's not an acceptable risk to me, fighting with some fed paper pushers while having no insurance. I am getting discouraged. See: http://www.early-retirement.org/for...te-on-the-exchange-yet-68723.html#post1366793

"Five monkeys jumping on the turtle back
One fell off and bumped his head
Mama calls the doctor and the doctor said
No more monkey allowed on the ACA plan"​

 

[ERhoosier]

I called the insurer. It took multiple calls (6), and they weren't very helpful in the beginning, but they finally got around to giving me specifics. Another forum member was quite helpful, details in this thread http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/yet-another-health-insurance-shopper-68609.html
From the title in your link one of the insurers is BCBS. In other states they are providing quotes and plan details directly, so you might want to try calling them.

Tried calling BCBS, which is my current carrier. Usu pretty decent cust svc, but they had "no info on the provider network for the Exchange Plans yet". Seemed totally unaware of their corporate statements given to local press (see my earlier link).

So- back to HC.gov.
Good news- Was able to complete entire application process, got my eligibility conformation e-mail, and started shopping Exchange Plans.
Bad News- NONE of the Plans' "Provider Directory" links were functioning. Clicks led to "Sorry, we can't find that page" or "Access denied". One BCBS link led to their general corporate intro web page (not relevant to Exchange customer support). Thus- hours spent getting thru the HC.gov process to shop HI has led to NO useful info on networks.....except that any out-of-network coverage is rare as hen's teeth

 

[MichaelB]

Tried calling BCBS, which is my current carrier. Usu pretty decent cust svc, but they had "no info on the provider network for the Exchange Plans yet". Seemed totally unaware of their corporate statements given to local press (see my earlier link).

Keep calling. I found useful info on the fact card for the specific plan, which is readily available on the website. Using the network name in the "look for a Dr" search function brings up all the specialists or hospitals that are considered "in network" for that plan.

 

[ERhoosier]

Keep calling. I found useful info on the fact card for the specific plan, which is readily available on the website. Using the network name in the "look for a Dr" search function brings up all the specialists or hospitals that are considered "in network" for that plan.

Appreciate the advice. I am familiar with their website provider/facility searches & tried that already. On this carrier's website, search function for specific docs/hosp's uses a drop-down menu of their various existing (2013) plans but NO Exchange Plans are included in the menu (yet).

I suppose another option would be to call the specific docs/hosp's I'm interested in to see which (if any) Exchange Plans they will be in-network for.

 

[MichaelB]

Another week, not much progress. If I could enroll today on the gov. website I'm still not ready. Or, more accurately, not all the insurers are ready, or helpful. Of the ones with national networks (BCBS, Cigna, Humana, Aetna), I can eliminate Cigna due to gaps in it's coverage. From there, only BCBS is making available details on all it's policy offerings at it's website. The others have some policy details at ehealthinsurance, but Humana has none (revisions in progress, please check back in a few days) and Aetna is limited. I don't think heathcare.gov is the only one not yet ready for prime time.

Pricing is interesting. The essential health benefits and metal levels make comparing policies much easier. I expected to see less price difference for the same insurer /coverage / network between different locations (up to 40% more expensive in one location (Illinois) vs another (South Fl)), also less difference between insurers for what looks to be comparable coverage / network (1/3 less Humana vs BCBS). .

All the insurers have made it difficult to assess the breadth of their networks. I do not expect this to change, it will be a critical factor for their pricing and profitability, and opacity is an advantage. Healthcare insurance is our single biggest expense (by a large margin) and we need to learn how to evaluate a provider network in order to maximize our value.

 

[Mulligan]

In my state anyways, blaming the government website is not an accurate portrayal of the current problem. It's the insurance companies fault. Anthem refers to their network as "Pathway X". Of course it does not list any hospitals in that pathway. So the newspaper called Anthem's "Suits" asking for information. "They refused repeatedly to discuss or explain the details of their policies" is the quote from the paper.

 

[tomz]

BCBS of Florida has a link to a national provider directory that seems to work. National Doctor and Hospital Finder. When I called them, they said if I was in a PPO, any providers shown in the directory would be considered in network. All bets were off for their HMO plans. If you are in an HMO and get service elsewhere, you are self pay.

 

[M Paquette]

It's the insurance companies fault. Anthem refers to their network as "Pathway X". Of course it does not list any hospitals in that pathway. So the newspaper called Anthem's "Suits" asking for information. "They refused repeatedly to discuss or explain the details of their policies" is the quote from the paper.

DW and I used to refer to this as our annual Easter Egg hunt, as in "Which doctors and labs are in-plan this year?", back when we were in a PPO plan from a major insurer. One year, the plan dropped both our doctor and all lab providers within an hour or so drive from us. (The same year the CEO departed with 1.6 billion in stock options...). Oh, we got to keep our insurance, but not the doctors, labs, or some hospital facilites. ("The ER is in-plan, but not the labs? The surgeon is in, but the anesthesiologist is out?")

This did assist in our move to the Kaiser HMO plan.

 

[ERhoosier]

All the insurers have made it difficult to assess the breadth of their networks. I do not expect this to change, it will be a critical factor for their pricing and profitability, and opacity is an advantage. Healthcare insurance is our single biggest expense (by a large margin) and we need to learn how to evaluate a provider network in order to maximize our value.

Agree 100%, but hope you are not correct in opacity becoming/remaining the norm. This will truly doom many Exchange HI buyers to second (or third) class healthcare, particularly in some low-competition markets. Imagine the poor fellow with chronic heart disease who learns he needs bypass surgery then finds his Exchange Plan's network only includes very marginal heart surgeons/hospital(s).

 

[ERhoosier]

BCBS of Florida has a link to a national provider directory that seems to work. National Doctor and Hospital Finder. When I called them, they said if I was in a PPO, any providers shown in the directory would be considered in network. All bets were off for their HMO plans. If you are in an HMO and get service elsewhere, you are self pay.

This is great for Florida, but most BCBS affiliates have different provider networks for their different HI plans. And from most reports, Exhcange Plans in most states will have much smaller provider networks than employer-based plans from the same carrier.

 

[Sue J]

Here's a video talking about why using the healthcare.gov site https://www.healthcare.gov/find-premium-estimates/ to get estimates in your area is so misleading. The "age 49 and under" selection gives you costs for a 27 year old and the "age 50 and older" selection shows costs for a 50 year old.

HealthCare.gov pricing feature can be off the mark - CBS News

That's about what I had assumed, looking at how our prices for us at 58 were so much higher than shown in the estimate.

How hard would it have been to be able to put in actual ages and get realistic results? Jeesh, this really makes the whole website look even worse than before, if that's possible.

 

[fh2000]

I can see how agonizing this is for you folks patiently waiting for government website to be fixed.

If they do not fix it by end of year, and you finally sign up in March of 2014, how do you seek care in the month of January or February?

 

[ziggy29]

Here's a video talking about why using the healthcare.gov site https://www.healthcare.gov/find-premium-estimates/ to get estimates in your area is so misleading. The "age 49 and under" selection gives you costs for a 27 year old and the "age 50 and older" selection shows costs for a 50 year old.

Yeah, I noticed that. I'm 48, and the unsubsidized "49 and under" estimate is way too low. You'd have to add about 50% to it to come close to what I am seeing.

 

[jflynn4]

Yeah, I noticed that. I'm 48, and the unsubsidized "49 and under" estimate is way too low. You'd have to add about 50% to it to come close to what I am seeing.

Real world numbers ....

Estimator for the specific plan I'm enrolling in is $742. (Blue Cross Florida 1491)
Actual cost from the Exchange once enrolled is $1503. (Blue Cross Florida 1491)

That's at age 59.

 

[GLM]

update -
Still trying to get ID verified.

I scanned driver's licence Oct 6. No response in a week , chat online revealed I needed to ad ID # to the scan .
Scanned it again on the 13th with ID # , waited until 18th to call.
Told I needed to talk to a specialist and that the call back would take up two three business days .

Just received call back (the 23rd ).
Specialist informed me that it is taking 2-3 weeks for scanned documents to be verified.
He said to be patient and reassured me that my health insurance would be ready for me .

It took a "Specialist" for that?

I just want to keep the policy we have. (but it is going away )http://www.early-retirement.org/sk/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif

 

[jflynn4]

update - Still trying to get ID verified. I scanned driver's licence Oct 6. No response in a week , chat online revealed I needed to ad ID # to the scan . Scanned it again on the 13th with ID # , waited until 18th to call. Told I needed to talk to a specialist and that the call back would take up two three business days . Just received call back (the 23rd ). Specialist informed me that it is taking 2-3 weeks for scanned documents to be verified. He said to be patient and reassured me that my health insurance would be ready for me . It took a "Specialist" for that? I just want to keep the policy we have. (but it is going away )http://www.early-retirement.org/sk/forums/images/smilies/mad.gif

Will make a suggestion ....

Start over in the process, set up a new user name and move forward. I was denied ID the first time as well but the second time, everything moved smoothly all the way to the enrollment process (I'm officially enrolled but now the "glitch" is at the insurer who says they're not processing until they have confidence that the subsidies are accurate).

Use internet explorer, clear your cache and cookies before re-doing.

 

[zinger1457]

update -
Still trying to get ID verified.

I had the same problem as you did and did as jflynn4 suggested and created a new account, I got ID verified first time through with the new account. Rest assured, there are more road blocks in the system to get through once you get ID verified.

 

[GLM]

I was actually planning on starting over with a new account when I get back to a secure connection. I am out of town this week and relying on hotel internet. The account I am having issues with is in DH's name . I tried several in his name before this one got me this far.

Next I will use my name as the primary . It may work out better in the long run as I tend to handle the healthcare and finances anyhow. If I need to talk to someone being the primary might make things go smoother. I am also hearing that I should have checked on the application that we do not currently have coverage . We do , he is self employed and we passed under writing and bought our own policy early this year. But I am hearing that for the healthcare.gov site we need to say we do not have coverage.

 

[John Galt III]

............... I am also hearing that I should have checked on the application that we do not currently have coverage . We do , he is self employed and we passed under writing and bought our own policy early this year. But I am hearing that for the healthcare.gov site we need to say we do not have coverage.

Yes, I've heard that too. The form asks you if you have coverage. I do have my own private individual insurance. Apparently the form is improperly worded, and really means "will you have insurance on 1/1/2014?".

So should I enter that I do not have insurance?

 

[jflynn4]

Yes, I've heard that too. The form asks you if you have coverage. I do have my own private individual insurance. Apparently the form is improperly worded, and really means "will you have insurance on 1/1/2014?".

So should I enter that I do not have insurance?

I can tell you from personal experience that the answer to that question is "yes." (You do NOT have insurance).

Answering that you do have existing coverage results in notification that you are ineligible to access insurance via the Marketplace (at least that is what happened with me).

If you've already answered that you DO have coverage, you can back out and change the answer. I'd recommend before doing so that you log off, clear your cache and delete cookies before re-logging on and continuing.

Good luck!

 

[zinger1457]

Is it just me? When I login to healthcare.gov and click "My Applications and Coverage" nothing shows up, the page is blank. I can't see the previous application I submitted and there is no option to submit a new one. It's been this way for the past 2 days. Deleted cookies/cache etc. multiple times but no luck.

 

[MichaelB]

Is it just me? When I login to healthcare.gov and click "My Applications and Coverage" nothing shows up, the page is blank. I can't see the previous application I submitted and there is no option to submit a new one. It's been this way for the past 2 days. Deleted cookies/cache etc. multiple times but no luck.

This happens to me often. In the upper right corner is my name, I click there and get a dropdown menu with 2 options: my profile, my applications and coverage. Clicking the second sometimes gets me back into the application process.

 

[MRG]

Is it just me? When I login to healthcare.gov and click "My Applications and Coverage" nothing shows up, the page is blank. I can't see the previous application I submitted and there is no option to submit a new one. It's been this way for the past 2 days. Deleted cookies/cache etc. multiple times but no luck.

I had same thing happen yesterday. Called was told my application was there and complete. Then the standard 'glitches' and 'it was due to high volume', really for hours straight kept re trying. Finally this morning I used chrome(IE was what had worked), had to clear browser cache as well. Wow my applications now back. Maybe part of the A team fixed chrome, broke IE for good measure. YMMV.
Edit to add I've used the solution Michaelb suggested, that worked for me until yesterday.


Good luck,

MRG

 

[John Galt III]

I can tell you from personal experience that the answer to that question is "yes." (You do NOT have insurance).

Answering that you do have existing coverage results in notification that you are ineligible to access insurance via the Marketplace (at least that is what happened with me).

If you've already answered that you DO have coverage, you can back out and change the answer. I'd recommend before doing so that you log off, clear your cache and delete cookies before re-logging on and continuing.

Good luck!

Thankyou! One disaster averted. I plan to apply by mail. I'll just mail copies of documents in if they ask for them. Might be just as fast as online!