WASHINGTON — In less than six weeks, despite months of Republican attempts to dismantle Obamacare, millions of people will return to HealthCare.gov to buy insurance.
Or at least, they should.
You might not know it from the political rhetoric, but the Affordable Care Act is still the law. Every American is still legally required to carry health insurance or face a tax penalty of at least $695. There will still be plans available on the exchanges in every county, and the federal government will still provide the subsidies that help more than 9 million people afford their premiums.
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Death of the ACA by a million cuts. Praying that I won’t have to change policies for the third time in three years, although the insurance company was the same in 2016 and 2017, and that the premium increase won’t be too drastic. Yes, Pres. Trump I do like my ACA coverage even though it is expensive and I make too make money to qualify for a subsidy. With a pre-existing condition, it’s my only option. Any GOP plan could have made coverage for me and millions of others a cruel joke.
Trying to find out if I can be trained to be a volunteer navigator. As someone who already volunteers to complete income tax returns for others, I can imagine how difficult it might be for someone who is not computer-savvy to complete an ACA application on his or her own.
My daily news feed this morning said I can expect heath insurance premiums in my state to increase by 40% next year. That means that I will spend $5000 more for insurance next year because this administration and republican congress do not have the political will to fix the ACA. I am extremely frustrated that I will foot the bill for this. I expect the next financial blow to come from republican tax ‘reform’. So far, the only accomplishment of the current administration is to erode my standard of living faster than I imagined was possible.
On another note, if the changes to the ACA described in this article aren’t sabotage, then they reflect profound incompetence. Things like scheduling website downtime during a shortened enrollment period is pathetic management. Whoever is running the ACA under the Trump administration should be fired.
Readers should be aware that they can go to healthcare.gov *right now* and create an account (for those who are using the exchange for the first time) or update their information if anything has changed. Especially those who have never been on the site, if you familiarize yourself with the process now and have any questions, you can call before Nov. 1 and perhaps spend less time on hold (the phone reps are available 24/7 excepting national holidays). A good place for first-time users to enter the healthcare.gov site is the contact page. It has a link to a PDF checklist of the information and documents you will need to begin, a link to the “create an account” start page, and a link to an overview of the system: https://www.healthcare.gov/contact-us/. Click on the “individuals and families” tab.