The Obama administration has set a modest goal for 2016 open enrollment, hoping to have about 10 million people pay for coverage by the end of 2016.
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Though a major function of healthcare.gov is assessing whether individuals and families qualify for financial assistance to lower the cost of health insurance, University Medical Center’s application counselors can perform the same analysis and help with enrollment and re-enrollment. That change “will result in a larger number of cancellations being accounted for during Open Enrollment than previous year”, when cancellations were reflected only in reports after the end of open enrollment, it said.
This year’s total is more than the roughly 462,000 people who selected a plan in the first week of last year’s open enrollment, though Burwell cautioned against direct comparisons because there is more time until the deadline this time. “We know from past experience that people are deadline driven, so we don’t expect to see deadline effects for a few weeks”, Ms. Burwell said. In fact, one major insurer is holding more than 3,000 events in its state; a national pharmacy has pledged to work in more than 12,000 of its stores; and one health system in Houston has already sent out thousands of letters – all to encourage enrollment.
Learn about the different types of health coverage. This kind of commitment shows that this market is stable and strong, and that businesses want to invest and be a part of it. In Jersey City, I met Jesicca Fernandez, who endured years of stomach troubles while she was uninsured.
Millions of people like Jesicca have found quality, affordable coverage on HealthCare.gov.
The Health Insurance Marketplace provides US citizens access to affordable health insurance coverage. All told, the uninsured rate has dropped by 45 percent since 2010. Many preventative services, such as immunizations, colon cancer screenings, mammograms and Pap tests are covered at no cost.
About 553,000 consumers chose insurance plans through HealthCare.gov between November 1 and November 7, according to federal figures. “Consumers need to check to see what the default option will be, because in this case, people who do not purchase another plan will be renewed automatically into a HMO plan”.
HealthCare.gov had 741,112 people contact its call center, and the average waiting time to get through was four minutes and 38 seconds, the CMS said. This will ensure your plan is appropriate for your circumstances and prevent you from paying too much or having to pay money back due to inaccurate income information. That’s the Marketplace at work.
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Meyer is a health care “navigator”, a federal grant-funded position paid by the Department of Health and Human Services.
