My daughter has good health coverage at a price she can afford. Took less than an hour.

[NRaleighLiberal]

We used this website - http://www.thehealthsherpa.com/

put in the zip - came up with a page where she put in her household size and income. This provided several options with premiums less than 10 dollars per month, including her subsidy.

We chose Coventry One - took 5 min. to fill out info on line, which took us to a screen saying she would be contacted by phone, or we could all...which we did.

dialled up the number using my laptop (GooglePhone) so we could both talk and listen together - got a delightful person on line to help us after just a 5 min wait time. About 45 min. later, she is registered. What a relief. Rate and coverage on a par with the policy that will be dropped at the end of the year (all part timers at her company will be dropped). Bronze plan with monthly fee of less than 10 per month - and she is a smoker (would have been just over 5 - so went up about 4. per month, which is pretty minimal)

So even though NC is an opt-out state, the subsidy does the trick so that the insurance is affordable for her.

Our adventure using the government portal wasn't as good - we tried a month ago when issues weren't yet ironed out and got stuck with her identity verification....that process never did resolve, hence our decision to try a different avenue.

Happy in Raleigh!

[sharp_stick]

1. Nice to hear

I'm glad she was able to get some coverage.

[MineralMan]

2. Good news!

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. I thought we could always use a dose of good news these days!

[MineralMan]

4. Good news never comes amiss!

I'm for reporting it wherever it can be reported. Thanks!

[Jim Lane]

5. Question about your verification problem

My overall experience, like your daughter's, was good (except that I went entirely through HealthCare.gov). Not counting my preliminary chat with online help (see below), and not counting time for other preparation I'd done, from the time I began to the time I was enrolled was a bit under two hours.

Like your daughter, I started with HealthCare.gov. My issue is that, as a freelancer, I can't reliably predict my 2014 income. Heck, even today I can't reliably predict my 2013 income, because some clients will pay my bills in the next two weeks to get the 2013 deduction. Thus, I was worried about verifying my income.

I tried the online help. The person seemed to be plugging in canned responses that weren't always responsive to my actual question, so it took longer than it should have, but I was eventually able to elicit and confirm the information I needed:

[3:23:57 pm]: Jim
So, what I put in right now is a good-faith estimate of what I'll earn in 2014; I'll receive subsidies on the basis of that estimate; and if it turns out to be too high or too low, I report the changes, and repay some money or get some money back, depending on what the correct number turns out to be -- is that how it works?
[3:24:29 pm]: Heather
You have it!

I proceeded to the enrollment and at some point encountered this screen:

- You need to send the Marketplace proof of your yearly income for 2014. Examples of documents you can send include:
(snipping a whole bunch of alternatives, none of which will be easy for me to send)
If you do not provide documentation by the following date, your eligibility for health care coverage may end: March 18, 2014

I went ahead and signed up, relying on this message for assurance that I could kick the verification can down the road for a few months.

Did your daughter's experience with verification not include the kick-the-can option?

Now all I have to do is figure out how to satisfy their verification requirements by March 18.