This is my experience with Obamacare through the ConnectforHealthCo website.
The registration process went smoothly. I created my account in 10 minutes. There is no login an the home page, which is inconvenient (click on "Learn More" then "Shop Now" to log in). To qualify for financial assistance click on "Do I Qualify" at the bottom of the login page. I answered a few questions, and my estimated premium assistance appeared. I had to complete a PEAK application to qualify for the subsidy. This took 90 minutes. The application was denied in a minute. It's time-consuming but I saved $7,817.16 in yearly premiums. Not bad for 1½ hours work.
Here are my results. This is for a 61-year-old nonsmoker with an income of about $20,000. I run 50-55 miles a week and am in excellent health, with no pre-existing conditions. It doesn't matter. Whatever my health, only smoking would effect my premium. I purchased a Silver Plan (silver plans pay 70% of medical expenses up to the deductible). Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) is available for some silver plans. After applying the CSR, my deductible is $250, my maximum out of pocket (OOP) cost is $1,200 per year, and my monthly premium is $116.01 ($1,392.12 yearly). There is a copay of $40 till I reach the OOP.
Contrast that with my current Obamacare compliant private insurance plan: deductible $10,000; OOP $15,000, monthly premium is $339.78 ($4,077.36 yearly). The copay varies from $75 to $200 depending on the procedure. The private plan pays 50 percent of expenses up to the deductible. I will save $2,685.24 on my yearly premium. My OOP will be reduced $13,800. My deductible reduced $9,750. My copay is reduced $35-$160.
There were other plans available. For a monthly premium of about $28 ($336 yearly) I could purchase a Bronze Plan. CSR's are not available with bronze plans. Bronze plans pay 60 percent of medical expenses. The plan had a deductible of $6,300, OOP of $6,300, and no copays. For a 27-year-old male nonsmoker making $24,000 a year, there are plans available for $216 a year. His penalty for not having insurance would be $240, so buying insured would cost less than paying the penalty. The real penalty would be not having insurance.
For the 5 percent of insured facing cancellation due to not being Obamacare compliant, I suggest reading your policy. These plans may contain exclusions for pre-existing conditions, yearly and lifetime caps, high deductibles, and few if any of the 10 essential health benefits required in Obamacare.
The support staff at Connectforhealthco is superb. My wait times were from seconds to a few minutes. The system had a glitch, which support was able to fix. They followed up with me later to be sure the login was working properly. Though it wasn't necessary, support called and helped me complete my purchase.
This truly is a Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Contact Rep. Scott Tipton and tell him to stop being an ideologue. Tell him to support Obamacare. It is past time to provide health care to all Americans. Obamacare works.
Chip Tuthill lives in Mancos.