Friday, June 28, 2013

Obamacare Stress Relief

The Obamacare exchange opens October 1, 2013 but will it be ready to roll?

Probably not . . .
That process is complex enough by itself. How much coverage do you want? What deductible? Are family members on the plan? Do you need an asthma program? Do you want to keep your current doctor? What about dental?
Kaiser Health News

That's getting ahead of yourself.

Before selecting a plan, if you go through the exchange you need to know if you qualify for a subsidy. That is a 45 minute process.
Like other filtering software, Connecture’s program is a multi-step search engine, screening out inappropriate options (based on your input) to deliver a manageable menu. After getting past the basics (Stripped-down “bronze” plan or high-benefit “platinum”? High deductible or low?), the program asks if it’s important to keep your current doctor.
“Based on our research, the choice of doctor was probably the No. 1 and No. 2 [features] of what people are looking for in a plan,”
Good luck on that.
It may be almost impossible to find "your" doc on the exchange plans.
Need to see if your drugs are on the formulary?
Fat chance
To try to reduce sticker shock, Connecture shows your net premium price — after the tax credits are applied — early in the shopping process. But perhaps the most important feature is the one estimating the total cost of coverage, including deductibles and co-pays, based on your reported health status. Without that information somebody with a chronic condition requiring lots of care could choose a plan based only on a low premium, not realizing the total expense could be substantially reduced by paying a larger premium up front.
How is this working for you so far?
Might need to chill out a bit.
blog comments powered by Disqus