Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2022

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • Issues
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • Issues Archive
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Law
    • Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • COVID-19
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Women in Leadership
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read The Issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Suggest execs for 2022

Home News Industries Healthcare Glitchy start on the exchange

Glitchy start on the exchange

Dec. 15 is the deadline for signing up on for insurance coverage starting Jan. 1

Published October 30, 2013 by Robert Burke

Sara Cariano is a “navigator” helping people
obtain health insurance through the federal exchange.
Photo by Rick Deberry

For people signing up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act in early October, it wasn’t a very smooth launch. Sara Cariano knows this because she saw it firsthand as a “navigator” trying to help people through the application process.

“You’d go on the [healthcare.gov] website, and you’d click ‘apply now,’ and it makes you choose what state you live in, and then it comes up with a page that pretty much says, ‘Hold on, we’re going to get you there,’” says Cariano, who works for the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society in Richmond.

The website often didn’t do what it promised, she says. “I sat with a consumer for about 40 minutes, and we tried to create an account, and we finally just gave up and made an appointment in two weeks to try again.”

There were lots of stories like that during the rollout of the Affordable Care Act’s individual health insurance exchange. Problems with the website continued throughout October.

Adding to consumers' frustration was the fact some were receiving notices that, starting next year, their current individual health plans would not meet the standards of the federal law.

Jeffrey Zients, an health-care entrepreneur overseeing efforts to repair the website, told reporters in late October that it should be operating smoothly by late November.

The first real deadline that matters is Dec. 15. That is the last day to enroll if you want your health insurance coverage to begin on Jan. 1.

There is another deadline for obtaining coverage to avoid being charged a penalty under the health-care law's individual mandate. Originally set for mid-February, that deadline has been extended six weeks, to March 31.

Cariano notes that buying insurance for the first time — many of the enrollees have never been eligible to do so — can be a complicated thing to understand. “I try to be very encouraging to people,” she says.

There is a lot to figure out, but there’s time to do so. Some applicants are eligible for federal subsidies. How much a policy costs depends in part on where you live in Virginia. Those who are eligible for Medicaid or Medicare don’t need to use the exchange at all.

Advice is available for free. A website called Enroll-Virginia.com gives consumers direction for where to find local advice on how to apply for health insurance and which options are available. The site is supported by a number of groups, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Virginia Association of Health Plans and the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.

The site has a rollover map that connects users to certified application counselors who can meet with them in person to discuss options and show them how to complete their applications.

The current open-enrollment period ends in March. After that, the next chance to enroll will be next October. That’s the same time as the open enrollment period for federal employees, says Doug Gray, executive director of the Virginia Association of Health Plans. “That’s not a mistake, that’s a strategy in the part of the makers of the exchange to have everyone considering their options at the same time,” he says.

The options offered on the public exchanges are crafted so consumers can compare one to another. But some insurers offer insurance packages off the exchanges, and there are also private insurance exchanges. The Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, for example, has created a private exchange, HealthMarketplaceVa.com, that will guide users through the various options.

Bill Monday, vice president for health-care programs at the Virginia Farm Bureau, says there likely will be more options on the private exchanges. That’s because the public exchanges under ACA are aimed at consumers “who are extremely price sensitive,” he says. Private exchanges also will be able to offer a kind of one-stop shopping. They can create websites that show what public exchange options offer and let consumers compare that to private exchange options.

Private exchanges have emerged to serve big employers that want to lower their cost for providing employee health insurance, Gray says. There are also private exchanges set up by smaller organizations, he says, because the exchanges let the groups hold onto the revenue they make from marketing health insurance to their own members. Sometimes, in fact, companies join these groups just for the insurance option.

Cariano says Virginia has fewer trained people to help consumers navigate the health insurance options than Maryland, for example, because it decided to let the federal government set up the insurance exchange, instead of doing so itself. “States with state exchanges also had state funds to hire navigators,” she says.

Despite the state’s reliance on a smaller number of people like Cariano, along with volunteers, the hope is that the process of enrollment will get easier. “Health insurance in general is just a very complicated thing if you’ve never had it before,” she says. “I’m hoping in a few weeks we’ll have some success stories.”

Related Stories

Virginia Business logo

HCA Virginia Health System starts construction on new emergency center in Loudoun County

Gov. Ralph Northam announces new restrictions in response to the coronavirus during his March 23 news conference.

Northam issues more restrictions; schools closed for rest of semester

Governor also closing restaurant dining rooms, theaters, fitness centers, bowling alleys.

Va. Tech gears up to produce PPE for Carilion

75 faculty, students and staff are making protective gear for medical workers and first responders.

Trending

Need a job? Fairfax wants you

Taking the reins

CAROLYN BISHOP

Dollar Tree overhauls C-suite

Williamsburg apartments sell for $100M

Sponsored Stories

What can Supply Chain Consultants do for me?

The Lowdown on Downloads for Your Online Experience

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Creating An Urban Destination in Chesapeake

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

Need a job? Fairfax wants you

Taking the reins

CAROLYN BISHOP

Dollar Tree overhauls C-suite

Williamsburg apartments sell for $100M

Sponsored Stories

What can Supply Chain Consultants do for me?

The Lowdown on Downloads for Your Online Experience

5 Benefits of Treasury Management Services from Atlantic Union Bank

Creating An Urban Destination in Chesapeake

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2022 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk