ACA Federal Marketplace updates

[Buckeye]

"Abend"... there's an old word from my mainframe programming days!

The *one* time I was able to get through it asked me security questions and asked me three that were relevant (and I knew the answers to) and bizarre fourth one, claiming that I had taken out a veterinary care insurance plan in the last two years, and asked for the name of the pet. Uh, no. I never bought one of those. So I entered "none of the above" and I failed my own identity test.

And the thing is, the church council is holding a special meeting on October 8 to discuss what health insurance, if any, it will offer to us. (The churchwide insurance plan requires them to decide by October 14.) We decided to wait until after the exchanges were open so we could see all the plans there, figure out cost and coverage there, and see if we'd be better off if they elected not to offer us insurance (and instead give us some grossed-up cash to pay the approximate subsidized premium and the loss of some subsidy and tax breaks from the extra cash).

But if we can't get in to look at the possibilities, we're pretty much stuck and we have to commit to an uninformed decision one way or another (which could cost us a lot more than is necessary in direct premium costs or reduced salary). So yes, I'm a little irritated when some people say "you have until December 15, there's no rush!" No, for us, there pretty much *is*.

I haven't been able to get to the point where I can see rates on Healthcare.gov but I saw some good info on the Tampa Bay Times website. You may be able to see rates for your area somewhere other than the Exchange. I'm thinking about calling my broker to ask him what he knows about the availability of pricing data. I might even try the Humana website.

 

[NoMoreJob]

I was finally able to get on our (independent) state exchange last night and actually shop for plans - and again today.

However, when I called to ask a question the message said that I cannot purchase a plan online yet due to 'technical difficulties.' They will mail me a paper application.

 

[bUU]

One BIL works for a state agency tied to the ACA. I won't be specific for reasons that should be apparent. The state had a grant from the feds but it was effectively pissed away by endless studies. The state reluctantly ponied up a bit more money. When the decision was finally made to start work, most of the time and almost all of the money was gone. As we all know, the time is now. They weren't ready and it will be a giant mess for several more months. Lots more state money has been thrown at the problem.

I also won't be specific for reasons that have been made clear in messages I posted previously. There are a number of ways that lead to delays and low quality in what is delivered. One of the most common is the practice of low-balling budget estimates to get time and materials contracts, and crafting the terms and conditions to ensure the project can skate by without penalty when the project schedule isn't met by shifting the blame on the customer that refuses to increase funding.

 

[pb4uski]

Thanks for the info. I'm surprised that the Feds just didn't contract with someone like ehealth to run the web side of things, it was already up and running.

For me it finds no 2014 plans. The estimate in the calculator is way off from the others.

+1 no plans for me either

 

[GLM]

THANK YOU, MichaelB. for this link https://www.healthcare.gov/health-plan-information/

This is some of the information I've been looking for and been unable to find because all I get from www.healthcare.gov is blank pages and messages to try to login later. I've filtered it for my state and county and downloaded the file.

+ AND thank you Sue J for mentioning the filtering options . I was so excited to see the information I did not see the filtering option at first.

 

[Dawg52]

ehealthinsurance.com must be over loaded too. Site comes up but can't get past the first page. Think I will just wait and see what BCBS gives me on my annual renewal info. Should be coming soon anyway.

 

[clifp]

99% of Obamacare applications hit a wall

It's a batting average that won't land the federal marketplace for Obamacare into the Healthcare Hall of Fame.
As few as 1 in 100 applications on the federal exchange contains enough information to enroll the applicant in a plan, several insurance industry sources told CNBC on Friday. Some of the problems involve how the exchange's software collects and verifies an applicant's data.

"It is extraordinary that these systems weren't ready," said Sumit Nijhawan, CEO of Infogix, which handles data integrity issues for major insurers including WellPoint and Cigna, as well as multiple Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates.

I'd be shocked if my application was in the 1% of the 99% since no error checking was performed on the Hawaii website.

 

[easysurfer]

I get a kick (well maybe not that funny for some ), that at the healthcare.gov site when the wait message is shown, a part says if you want a quicker turn around to call a number. Everything old is new again.

 

[ziggy29]

I get a kick (well maybe not that funny for some ), that at the healthcare.gov site when the wait message is shown, a part says if you want a quicker turn around to call a number. Everything old is new again.

And if they come back and say you'll get the fastest response by snail mail, you'll know we've completed the 180....

 

[easysurfer]

And if they come back and say you'll get the fastest response by snail mail, you'll know we've completed the 180....

 

[John Galt III]

I just logged into ehealthinsurance.com, and it apparently does not know that in Pa one needs only $11,490 annual income to qualify for an exchange plan and subsidy, since Pa is not expanding medicaid (at this point, though it could change!)

I had to enter $15,400 or higher income in ehealthinsurance.com to get it to say I qualified for the exchange and for a subsidy.

This is in contrast to healthcare.gov, which tells me I only need $11,490 for an exchange plan and subsidy (not medicaid) and also tells me I will not qualify for medicaid anyway, no matter what my income is, due to my resources. I trust healthcare.gov more than ehealthinsurance, to be correct.

If one searches the internet, one sees that Pa is "still deciding" if and how it will "expand medicaid". OMG..............


I will have to be cashing in x or y amount of IRA money to increase my income above $11,490 or $15,400, whichever number they decide upon.

 

[rbmrtn]

Not sure about that. I think the cutoff for medicaid is 133% of FPL, then another code requirement adds another 5% ( total 138% ) ACA Note: When 133 Equals 138 - FPL Calculations in the Affordable Care Act | State Health Access Data Assistance Center

Both the Kaiser and Berkeley calculators return these amounts

 

[Gatordoc50]

If its this hard giving the insurers money, I can't imagine how difficult it's going to be to get them to pay a claim.

 

[Sue J]

Here's another site that seems to use the same info as the Excel spreadsheet page posted earlier, but in an easier to view format.

Obamacare Info For Your State & Zip Code The zip code input didn't work for me, I used my state, then scrolled down to find my county.

Then scroll down a little to How Much Does Obamacare cost in (my state).

Scroll down to Click here for an overview of providers and rates in (my state)

On the next page click your age and it will show you the lowest cost for each metal plan and then below that is a list of plans sorted by provider and metal level.

Using the name of a plan I was interested in I could google it and get the specifics on the co-pay, deductible and some coverage info.

I thought this may be helpful to others who still can't get specific plan info. To me the layout of the plans is easier than the page linked earlier.

 

[rbmrtn]

I notice what may be a minor glitch in the data, looking at the spreadsheet, kaiser calculator, valuepenquin and legalconsumer that may impact the subsidy calculation.

Each state is divided into rating areas, with counties assigned to an area. It appears that two counties in the same rating area may not have the same plans offered. The subsidy is calculated using the costs of the second lowest silver plan. It seems the websites are using the second lowest silver plan in the rating area which may not be the 2nd lowest silver plan available to you. That may make a difference in calculating the subsidy. For me it's about $1K difference using the 2nd lowest silver plan available to me vs the one in the rating area.

 

[GLM]

Interesting ! If I ever get into the system I will be sure to check what my second lowest silver plan costs .

 

[ERhoosier]

Thanks for posting the link to Healthcare.gov plan info.

Interestingly- It appears that all but 1 of Marketplace Plans in my region are HMO's. The only POS Plan is a low-end Bronze which, according to local paper, has just 1 of the area's major hospitals in its network.
So much for "You can keep your own doctor"

 

[wmc1000]

Same boat here but when checking doctors I find my doctor is listed among the participating doctors. Sagamore Health Systems network which is my current PPO program network.

 

[REWahoo]

Interesting ! If I ever get into the system I will be sure to check what my second lowest silver plan costs .

You should be able to check that info through a "back door" here:

https://www.healthcare.gov/health-plan-information/

 

[ERhoosier]

You should be able to check that info through a "back door" here:

https://www.healthcare.gov/health-plan-information/

But keep in mind you will not get full details on specific Plans. There can be some important differences among Silver Plans (e.g. provider networks, deductibles/OOP max below ACA limits, out-of-network coverage, etc.).

 

[Sue J]

Window shop for plans on Healthcare.gov without having to fill out an application.

https://www.healthcare.gov/find-premium-estimates/

I also posted this on the ACA sign-up topic but thought it might be helpful here. This is new, just saw it posted on twitter by a Washington Post health policy reporter, https://twitter.com/sarahkliff

 

[NoMoreJob]

Window shop for plans on Healthcare.gov without having to fill out an application.

https://www.healthcare.gov/find-premium-estimates/

I also posted this on the ACA sign-up topic but thought it might be helpful here. This is new, just saw it posted on twitter by a Washington Post health policy reporter, https://twitter.com/sarahkliff

Not only does this 'window shopping' option not estimate the subsidies or cost sharing that may be available but it didn't even ask for the ages of those in my household. How accurate can this be?

At first glance it seems to be a way to temporarily appease rather than to give information that a person can actually use to make an informed shopping choice. If this were a commercial site the government would be investigating them for false advertisement.

As you can tell I'm not in a terribly good mood at the moment.

 

[ERhoosier]

Window shop for plans on Healthcare.gov without having to fill out an application.

https://www.healthcare.gov/find-premium-estimates/

Not really.

This is a fairly useless estimator which neither requests nor specifies the age for which the example premiums apply. And important details for each sample Plan (e.g. OOP max, networks, etc.) are NOT provided.
In fact on 2nd slide of this estimator it states-
"Final price quotes are available only after someone has completed a Marketplace application."

 

[Sue J]

Not only does this 'window shopping' option not estimate the subsidies or cost sharing that may be available but it didn't even ask for the ages of those in my household. How accurate can this be?

At first glance it seems to be a way to temporarily appease rather than to give information that a person can actually use to make an informed shopping choice. If this were a commercial site the government would be investigating them for false advertisement.

As you can tell I'm not in a terribly good mood at the moment.

The option for insurance for "Only You" gets you a drop down box for 49 and under or 50 and older. Not much help but it's more info than they offered before.

I don't blame you for being moody over this. I have been dealing with all these unknowns and a 10-31-13 time limit for our only other option of health care insurance (DH's very expensive retiree plan) by myself since DH has no interest or desire to know about these things.

So yesterday I asked him if I could have 20 minutes of his time to explain what I've learned and where we stand and what the issues are. Things like insurance options, spreadsheets, costs and impact to our monthly expenses make him uncomfortable and itchy so I need to keep it all direct and compact. He sat through the whole explanation and understood where we're at and why I'm antsy about it. We still can't DO anything until HealthCare.gov gets it's act together but he agreed with my approach and the contingency plan.

I felt better just sharing it with him rather than having the entire burden on my mind.

 

[tomz]

The healthcare.gov back door for my county in Florida shows an HMO from coventry one as the least expensive silver plan. I went to the coventry one website to see if my doctor was in their plan. When I looked at the map of where coventry one provides coverage in Florida, my county (Volusia) is shown as no coverage. There are no docs within 50 miles of me. If this is the info being used to calculate subsidies, it will be inaccurate. I guess I'll cross that bridge once I am able to login.