Value-Based Care News

Consumer Activity Recommended for ACA Open Enrollment

By Ryan Mcaskill

- Open enrollment for individual health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act for 2015 is a month away. Starting November 15,2014 and ending December 15, 2014, the second open-enrollment period will begin for those looking to sign up for health care coverage the first time and allows those already covered to renew or alter their existing plans.

In preparation for the open enrollment period, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced plans to help consumers navigate HealthCare.gov. This week, consumers have started receiving notices from Federally-facilitated Marketplaces in the mail and to their HealthCare.gov accounts notifying them that open enrollment is getting closer and offering tips to make the process easier.

During open enrollment consumers can update their application, shop for different plans and determine if they met the requirements for financial assistance.

Consumers looking to re-enroll will find that 90 percent of the online application is auto populated with information from the previous year. CMS is also running in-person assistance and has staffed an additional 1,000 call center representatives over the last year to help answer questions and walk consumers through the coverage process.

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  • “It’s important for people to come back to the Marketplace during Open Enrollment, because every year, insurance companies make changes to premiums, cost-sharing and benefits. And with 25 percent more issuers offering coverage in 2015, consumers have more plans to choose from and more issuers are competing to offer a better deal,” CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in the release.

    She added that this gives consumers the opportunity to shop and compare plans that will be the most cost effective, while offering more services or include more doctors in the network. The goal is to provide consumers with the most up-to-date information so they can make the right choice for them.

    Many consumer advocates and policy experts are urging individuals to be active during the open enrollment, even if they signed up last year and were happy with their coverage. PriceWaterhouseCooper’s Healthcare Institute found that on average premiums for individual insurance plans are expected to increase 6 percent. However, there are variations and some markets decreased, thanks mainly to new competition.

    Sabrina Corlette, senior research fellow at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University told the New York Times that being active and shopping around will be key to avoiding getting unknowingly impacted by price changes from the year before.

    “Premiums are changing pretty dramatically.” Corlette said.

    Kaiser Family Foundation senior vice president Larry Levitt added that renewing coverage without looking into it can be costly the same tax credit from 2014 will most likely be applied. If income has changed over the last 12 months, that number may be too large or too small.