Biden made 'Obamacare' cheaper, now sign-up deadline is here

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-a013d8f36086b28731d5e09844f81558

Biden made ‘Obamacare’ cheaper, now sign-up deadline is here
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Obama health care law undergoing a revival under President Joe Biden, this Sunday is the deadline for consumers to take advantage of a special sign-up period for private coverage made more affordable by his COVID-19 relief law.

A strong close would bolster Biden’s case that Congress needs to make permanent the temporary boost in health insurance subsidies provided by the COVID legislation. His campaign promise to build on existing programs to move the U.S. toward coverage for all may also gain credence.

The government says more than 2.5 million people have signed up since Biden ordered the HealthCare.gov marketplace to reopen Feb. 15 to account for health insurance needs in the pandemic. Then, starting in April, the cost of coverage came down due to sweeter subsidies in the COVID law, which attracted more enrollment. Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, are hoping that this deadline weekend in mid-August will surprise skeptics.

“We’ve seen even in the last couple of weeks increased interest in enrollment,” Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in an interview. “When you make coverage more affordable, people buy it. What we need to do is to make coverage more affordable.”

Biden’s special enrollment period ends at midnight local time Sunday around the country. The regular annual sign-up season won’t start again until Nov. 1.

[LisaM]

1. Why do they have these deadlines?

I am going to have to get new insurance on October 1. Is there some particular reason we can't just sign up any old time? I do not get why there are cut-off dates. Wouldn't it be more consumer friendly if people could sign up on an as-needed basis?

[hedda_foil]

2. After you apply online you have a month to choose a plan.

This is the deadline for getting into the system.

[LisaM]

3. But why?

I don't need insurance now. My COBRA will either need me to pay over $900 per month starting October 1, or it will lapse.

I know that there ARE deadlines. I'm just frustrated as to the WHY. Why can't I wait until I actually need a plan and sign up then? This was a thing with Obamacare, too. I suppose GOP lawmakers have some culpability in this, but these artificial deadlines that don't mesh with what I need are enormously stressful to me.

[hedda_foil]

4. Because so many people lost jobs/insurance or had none during the pandemic.

Google is your friend as is healthcare.gov.

[LisaM]

5. You are not understanding me.

I don't need healthcare at the moment. On October 1, will. I would like to sign up then, but apparently that's not an option. These deadlines are enormously stressful. My current insurance is good, and I want to keep it, but I don't want to pay the expensive premiums. So I don't want to sign up now. However, it seems that I don't have the option of waiting until October 1, then signing up.

This is a terrible thing.

[XanaDUer2]

6. I don't understand, either

seems like a weird hoop to jump through

[LisaM]

7. Yes. My whole life comprises these hoops.

Thanks for putting it that way. I am so tired of this. I have a healthcare provider that can't get the billing right and I have had to call them half a dozen times to fix it. Despite all that, I got a late notice a few days ago. It's debilitating. I am tired of these minor battles.

[Hekate]

8. You'd have to check the govt site, but iirc loss of existing private insurance allows you to...

… sign up off-schedule, as it were.

As it is, your current insurance expires October 1, according to what you say. That is a mere 6 weeks.

Best of luck. No matter what you do, there will be decisions and paperwork galore.

[LisaM]

9. Thanks, that's actually helpful.

I am dreading the paperwork, but I suppose it's inevitable. Due to a cascading series of events involving bereavement and a more than year long case of shingles (on my face) I needed to stop working, and it's hard. It seems that we have to deal with these obstacles when we are least equipped to handle them.

[Hekate]

11. Ouch. I'm so sorry.

As for the paperwork & decisions, well, damn. We all hate it — but as it is, ever since my husband returned to the private sector, he’s had to contend with frequently-changing policies and plans. It was something, then Blue Cross, now it’s Aetna. Can we get a special dispensation from using generics for 2 of our meds, or not? What, you say a certain thing isn’t even in the formulary?

The generics issue keeps coming up because of our age. Our doc keeps forgetting we aren’t on Medicare yet. It is a huge money-saver for everyone involved, and as far as I can tell, generics are standard for Medicare and Obamacare.

If Obamacare is like Medicare you’ll have to find a plan within the plan, and if you have special meds or special conditions, find which plan covers it best.

I don’t know if you saw or participated in the infamous POSUCS thread, but in among all the frothing at the mouth of the OP who is no longer here, there was some fairly good advice from DUers about what he should have done before relocating to a new state with his new wife who has (iirc) Multiple Sclerosis — it was a terrible shock to him to discover that a critical medication was not covered. Plans and what they cover unfortunately vary by state and region. I don’t think that has been fixed yet.

All the best. Others have gone before you — and you will prevail.

[XanaDUer2]

12. I'm sorry

I'm attempting to get on ssdi and am currently off-work on fmla. Paying 430/month to maintain health, dental, and eyeglasses insurance.

Really want some form of national insurance. Best of luck! Keep us posted.

[Ron Green]

10. One Risk Pool is a Health Care System. Multiple Risk Pools is an Investment Scheme.

We have enough investment schemes in this country; we need a health care system.

These enrollment periods and subsidies for private insurance are just putting lipstick on the enormous pig that is the extractive and criminal "health care system" that's the size of the entire economy of France. It's ALL the lawmakers, of both parties, who take the skim from their lobbyists and keep it going.