Ask a Navigator

Q: Will healthcare.gov work better this year?  

Sincerely,
Glitched Out

A: So good to see you again. And thank you for asking such an important question. It’s October and another open enrollment begins on Noviembre 15. And although I would rather discuss my new carne asada tamales recipe, I wanted to tell you about some new things happening with healthcare.gov.

As you might now, healthcare.gov is the website where Utahns can review and

shop for health insurance. And it is the only website where you can receive premium subsidies to reduce your monthly insurance payments (en Español). Plus, if you want your insurance to start or renew on January 1, 2015, you need to sign up on the marketplace by December 15, 2014. And remember that this year’s open enrollment is only three months long. It ends on February 15th!

Last year healthcare.gov didn’t work well at first. It was like sticky cheese that stuck in your throat. And the problems lasted for weeks! But luckily they fixed it, and over 84,601 Utahns signed up for coverage.

This year we know that healthcare.gov will work much better from the beginning. Yes, there will be glitches. But they will be pequeño compared to the grande problems last year.

Here are the Top Ten Things we know about the new healthcare.gov:

1) You can start to review the new 2015 plans and premiums starting on November 10… ….but you can’t start shopping until November 15.

2) Screening questions were added to the beginning to determine if you would use the traditional application or a new streamlined application which is only 16 pages long and takes less time to complete. We expect about 70% of applicants to use the streamlined application, and 30% to use the traditional more detailed one. Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones!

3) The entire website has been overhauled with these changes:

• Backward navigation, which means if you made a mistake on a previous page, you can click back a screen back to fix your whoopsie without starting all over
• Fewer screens to navigate overall
• Optimization for mobile users, so youngsters can shop for insurance on their fancy smartphones
• Shorter, smoother, simpler user experience, so that old granny’s like me can navigate it, too

4) There will be at least 15 more insurance plans to choose among along the Wasatch Front. Choice is good, si?

5) If you don’t understand a word or phrase like “deductible” or “out of pocket maximum,” you can place your mouse over it on the screen and the definition will appear in a tiny little window. So cute!

6) We expect some insurance rates to go up, some to go down—and the overall average increase to be 5% to 7%

7) Utah will continue to enjoy some of the lowest insurance premiums in the nation. Hooray for healthy living!

8) Fewer website glitches means faster applications and more time for crocheting!

9) You still need an email account to sign up, but you will have more options for healthcare.gov to contact you in case you prefer the old-fashioned phone or postal service.

10) The website is blue. Very blue. Everywhere is blue. Did you know that blue is my favorite color?

If you have any other questions or need assistance, my navigator amigos at Take Care Utah (Alex, Julie, Luis, Marissa and Felipe) are standing by to help with your application online.
Give us a call at 801-433-2299, or find an enrollment expert in your area by going to www.takecareutah.org, or calling 2-1-1.
 
Until next time!

Take Care Utah
www.takecareutah.org
Call 2-1-1
Take Care Utah helps people find and understand their new options for affordable healthcare coverage by connecting them with trained enrollment specialists in their communities and neighborhoods.