ObamaCare Sign-Up. . .
Dearly Departed Joe worked in his family’s insurance business, and took care of our health insurance benefits. When Joe died, my brother-in-law adjusted our plan, and we carried on accordingly.
In 2013, my brother-in-law encouraged me to look at ObamaCare. He felt it would save me money. I tried. I really did. But navigating the broken web site and figuring out the Affordable-Care Marketplace was just too complicated. I let the opportunity to take advantage of any health-care premium discounts pass us by.
This year, I was encouraged to give it another go. My brother-in-law sent me the Blue Cross Blue Shield health-care plans that he felt would be advantageous to us. Armed with this new information, along side my can-do attitude, I decided to apply for ObamaCare through the Healthcare Marketplace again this year.
Healthcare Marketplace Website: The website does not completely support Chrome, Safari, or Firefox browsers. The best browser to access the site is Internet Explorer. If you know anything about computers, this is problematic; if you don’t know anything about computers, just trust me. The web site would not accept my e-mail address. I could not create an account. My only recourse was the phone.
Affordable Healthcare helpline: After a hold time of almost 45 minutes, I spoke with a representative and indicated that I was interested in finding out if I qualified for a lower health care premium. The Affordable Healthcare representative transferred me to Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Blue Cross Blue Shield: After a hold time of 30 minutes, an agent answered the phone. Following more questions, the agent suggested an insurance plan with a higher premium than I am currently paying. I was confused, and I indicated once again that I was searching for a lower not a higher health care premium. The agent told me that he could not help me and directed me to the Healthcare Marketplace.
The Healthcare Marketplace: My computer-generated number in the phone cue was 225. I held for 94 minutes. A representative finally answered the phone and took down some general information. I was then informed that the computer system was down, so she would not be able to assist me. I was not at a loss for words. She apologized for the inconvenience and suggested I call back or use the Marketplace web site.
The ObamaCare sign-up process was a nightmare last year, and it’s a nightmare this year. Insurance brokers can suggest policies, but individuals have to navigate the marketplace for affordable healthcare. Beyond the insurance brokers, you aren’t dealing with professionals—you are dealing with order takers that work for insurance companies and with government employees.
Yes, I’ll follow the dangling carrot and attempt to call the Healthcare Marketplace one more time. My health-care savings has the potential to be significant. I’ll spend my hold time telling myself that signing up is the worst part, and I’ll try hard to believe that ObamaCare isn’t just one big Obama con.
Have you tried to sign-up for ObamaCare ?
Odd Loves Company,
Update: I did finally manage to sign-up and my premiums were reduced significantly. Will the coverage hold? I have no idea. But for the time being I have the same coverage for less money.
Hang in there. I’ve heard good things once you are in. But I’ve also heard discouraging stories about trying to navigate the system.
Our health care insurance through my husbands job is thankfully pretty good. But I am never cavalry about it.
Wishing you success and a shorter hold time.
I did succeed. I called back at 7am on Sunday morning. There has to be an easier way! Thanks for the support.
It’s a mess. We are set -up to give our employees the best benefits we can afford and we still get nailed from all sides. Fortunately, our agent is one of my oldest and best buddies so he makes it as painless as possible. But believe me it still hurts.
If you are self-employed the marketplace can make your premiums more affordable so go the distance and get the best deal.
You can do it. Ha.
Help is good. My BIL armed me with a lot of information. I did save money so as frustrating as it was perhaps going through the sign-up process was worth it. Time will tell.
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What a nightmare — this confirms my suspicions (and my friends’ experiences) that the ACA is far from easy — or, in many cases, affordable. Unless one really needs coverage, it might be easier for us self-employed folks to pay the penalty!
I’m sure you wouldn’t spend as much time on hold!