Enrollment Period Seems Chaotic with Uncertainty and Increased Premiums
November 1, 2017 marks the beginning of the enrollment period for buying health care insurance coverage through the insurance exchanges operating under the Affordable Care Act. This year is the fifth enrollment under the ACA, which is currently proving to be the most challenging yet. To add to this challenge, the enrollment period has been reduced from three months to only 45 days, although some state marketplaces have a longer deadline.
Consumers are the most confused with their health insurance coverage options, with many not even knowing that the enrollment period started November 1st. Consumers are not sure if they will even be able to afford their coverage, since healthcare insurance premiums have spiked under the Trump Administration. The insurance premium spike is a result of the Trump Administration also cutting healthcare subsidies for insurance providers, causing providers to incur costs up to $1 billion this year.
Enrollment numbers are not expected to increase this year, mostly due to the confusion and uncertainty from consumers, increased premiums and no support from the federal government. Navigators, who are those assisting consumers with their health insurance enrollment, see this combined chaos as a major setback for the ACA enrollment this year. Navigators report that consumers were very informed and assured with their coverage options last year, but this year does not seem as promising.
Along with cutting out subsidies, the federal government is further not supporting the enrollment by not setting any goals for the ACA enrollment, stating that the numbers “will take care of themselves,” according to CMS Deputy Administrator Randy Pate.
Without any goals and no support to increase enrollment numbers, hospitals can suffer by having to deal with costs associated with servicing uninsured patients.
Read the original article from Modern Healthcare, click here.
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