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...you have to do it by March 31 and you have to stay with the same insurer and tier of coverage.
"federal officials have rethought some of the marketplace’s rules, as it has become clear that some of the customers who have used HealthCare.gov purchased a health plan without fully understanding its benefits — or which doctors and other health-care practitioners were part of its network."
But if you want to totally get out of it, just refuse to pay your premium so the insurance company drops you. That's apparently your only out.
That all makes sense if you actually take the time to think about it. First, the open enrollment period is until March 31, so changes would be allowed to some degree until then. The restriction to company and plan is to protect insurers. In many states, the exchanges offer a variety of plans ranging from lesser coverage to "cadillac" level coverage. Suppose someone signs up for a low buck, bronze narrow network plan or maybe a catastrophic one and then comes down with some seriously expensive illness. They now wish they had the high buck, high benefit plan that another insurer offers. If one could just jump over there when they got sick, that could end up being a huge, unanticipated burden on the high end insurer. It is pretty much the same deal as having no insurance and then being able to buy a policy in anticipation of expenses. That is not allowed either and I suppose you find that a failing of Obamacare. Nonetheless, it does make sense.
As for adding and removing family members, this is allowed (actually required) by law and the exchange will eventually get those options working properly if there are problems doing it online. Until then, people can do it like they have up until now - call their insurer.
That all makes sense if you actually take the time to think about it. First, the open enrollment period is until March 31, so changes would be allowed to some degree until then. The restriction to company and plan is to protect insurers. In many states, the exchanges offer a variety of plans ranging from lesser coverage to "cadillac" level coverage. Suppose someone signs up for a low buck, bronze narrow network plan or maybe a catastrophic one and then comes down with some seriously expensive illness. They now wish they had the high buck, high benefit plan that another insurer offers. If one could just jump over there when they got sick, that could end up being a huge, unanticipated burden on the high end insurer. It is pretty much the same deal as having no insurance and then being able to buy a policy in anticipation of expenses. That is not allowed either and I suppose you find that a failing of Obamacare. Nonetheless, it does make sense.
As for adding and removing family members, this is allowed (actually required) by law and the exchange will eventually get those options working properly if there are problems doing it online. Until then, people can do it like they have up until now - call their insurer.
You can't change between tiers of coverage. So if you have a catastrophic plan, your only choice would be to change to another catastrophic plan from the same insurer, assuming that's even an option.
This is just a show of flexibility without really doing anything. Healthcare.gov put up fake lists of doctors, and people are pissed. So they are saying you can change to sooth some of the anger. But when people realize their only choice is changing from their current Anthem silver plan to another Anthem silver plan, it won't help.
As the Kaiser person notes in the article, private healthcare gives you real options for change during the enrollment period, allowing people to change between plans from different insurers with different levels of coverage.
You can't change between tiers of coverage. So if you have a catastrophic plan, your only choice would be to change to another catastrophic plan from the same insurer, assuming that's even an option.
This is just a show of flexibility without really doing anything. Healthcare.gov put up fake lists of doctors,and people are pissed. So they are saying you can change to sooth some of the anger. But when people realize their only choice is changing from their current Anthem silver plan to another Anthem silver plan, it won't help.
As the Kaiser person notes in the article, private healthcare gives you real options for change during the enrollment period, allowing people to change between plans from different insurers with different levels of coverage.
Oh yeah! You tell 'em. There was one anecdotal story in the LA Times. That was Covered California and they took down the master list they had and are now referring buyers to the insurers. In my state, healthcare.gov links one to the insurers web sites for the provider lists and the benefits summaries. They do not have "fake" lists. I presume that healthcare.gov does that for all states.
The really interesting thing about the Obamacare rollout to me is how little press there is about it. That tells me it is going very well. You naysayers have so little to go on that you are extrapolating a couple isolated incidents into mobs of "pissed" people. In the echo chamber of the right wing, it is easy to believe that nonsense. In my world, the people I know who have exchange policies are completely satisfied. They have the docs and the coverages they expected to get. The overwhelming majority of enrollees feel the same way.
...you have to do it by March 31 and you have to stay with the same insurer and tier of coverage.
"federal officials have rethought some of the marketplace’s rules, as it has become clear that some of the customers who have used HealthCare.gov purchased a health plan without fully understanding its benefits — or which doctors and other health-care practitioners were part of its network."
But if you want to totally get out of it, just refuse to pay your premium so the insurance company drops you. That's apparently your only out.
So basically the same way employer provided insurance works. You can only enroll during open enrollment. You cant change insurers mid year. And people will continue to select plans they don't understand, just like they do at work.
So basically the same way employer provided insurance works. You can only enroll during open enrollment. You cant change insurers mid year. And people will continue to select plans they don't understand, just like they do at work.
Yes, that is clearly superior to the Free Market which would allow the purchase of plans anytime, and allow people to customize everything, including the deductible.
You can't change between tiers of coverage. So if you have a catastrophic plan, your only choice would be to change to another catastrophic plan from the same insurer, assuming that's even an option.
This is just a show of flexibility without really doing anything. Healthcare.gov put up fake lists of doctors, and people are pissed. So they are saying you can change to sooth some of the anger. But when people realize their only choice is changing from their current Anthem silver plan to another Anthem silver plan, it won't help.
As the Kaiser person notes in the article, private healthcare gives you real options for change during the enrollment period, allowing people to change between plans from different insurers with different levels of coverage.
If (and that's a big if, and probably won't be the case for most) an insurer has both a high-price wide-network plan and a low-price narrow-network plan at the same metal level it will allow people who bought the cheaper one without adequate research or without an easily available provider list because it was cheaper to switch to the more expensive one with a wider network if that is what they want.
I think that's what the government is trying to achieve here. Hopefully it won't cause any unintended side-effects.
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