Since Open Enrollment for health insurance began this past Tuesday, all major news outlets have been reporting on the glitches and capacity overload that have prevented users from getting into the sites (see yesterday’s health care news).
When things do settle down and you are actually able to get in, what will you find?
If the consumer experience is anything like what brokers went through to register with the exchanges during the summer months, you can expect to be asked numerous, very specific, identity-verifying questions — along with your name and social security number — in order to establish an account. Questions like: “on what street did you live in 1982?” “with what bank did you refinance your home in 2004?” “what was your phone number in 1966?”
Of course, these questions are asked for the purpose of verifying that you truly are who you say you are. And that is a good thing in light of the prevalence of identity theft.
But, a word of advice: As a casual user, you will NOT be able to browse plans before establishing an account. And, establishing an account will not be as simple as choosing a user name and password. So, be prepared to jump through some hurdles and answer some very detailed — and often obscure — questions about yourself.
We invite you to visit our website www.vamedicalplans.com. As carriers make their 2014 plan and rate information available, you can find it here, directly on our site. You can browse available plans with just a few key strokes — and no obligation.
And when your browsing returns 10-15 options, leaving you unsure of the best one, give us a call or send us an email. We’ll be glad to help!