And you thought Halloween was scary......Earlier today, Kathleen Sebelius, head of Department of Health and Human Services, testified on Capitol Hill that the problems with the healthcare.gov website will be fixed by November 30th. So..... what should you do while you wait?
There are several things you should be doing now:
Estimate if you may be eligible for the premium tax credit or out of pocket subsidy:
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The only reason you would need to use the healthcare.gov website is if you are eligible for a premium tax credit or an out of pocket subsidy. There are several resources to get an estimate on this without using the healthcare.gov website. The Kaiser Family Foundation has a good tool available on their website: http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/.
If you do not think you will be eligible for the premium tax credit or out of pocket subsidy:
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Start looking at 2013 plans/premiums and compare them to the 2014 Obamacare/Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans. The new plans available in 2014 for the most part have higher premiums, higher deductibles and higher overall out of pockets than the plans currently available today. A few insurance companies are still accepting applications for plans to be effective as late as 12/31/13. The 2013 plans are subject to underwriting but the premiums savings may be worth giving them further consideration. The plans will stay in place until their anniversary next year. Upon the policy anniversary, you will likely have to move the ACA plans but at least you saved some premium dollars for 12 months.
If you do not think you will be eligible for the premium tax credit or out of pocket subsidy, but are concerned about underwriting on the plans available today:
As I mentioned before, the only reason to use the healthcare.gov website is for the tax credit and subsidy. If this does not apply to you, you can look at, compare and apply for the new 2014 plans right now without using the healthcare.gov website. The same plans on the healthcare.gov website are available off the website and have the same premiums. There are also additional options available outside of the healthcare.gov website. So no need to wait for the technical difficulties to be resolved, just bypass that website all together.
If you will qualify for a premium tax credit or out of pocket subsidy:
Once you get an estimate of your tax credit and subsidy, you can still look at the plans available and get a good idea of what will work best for you. By doing some comparing now, you will be ready to move forward when the website technical glitches have been fixed. You can also apply for your tax credits/subsidy over the phone or complete a paper application. It is important to note that there is a 2-8 week delay when using the phone or paper application until you get your eligibility letter, which you then submit with your application to the insurance company.
I recommend that you contact a licensed and certified insurance agent to help you figure out the best options for you. A certified agent can assist you with policies available today, as well as policies on the healthcare.gov website and 2014 policies off the website. An agent can also help you estimate your eligibility for tax credits/subsidies and tell you how they work. And, unlike a navigator, an agent will be able to give you advice on what policy may be the best fit for your needs.
