Have you tried to sign up for insurance using the Federal Health Insurance Exchange?
Since the exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) opened on October 1, the news is filled with reports of delays, glitches, and problems with the online system designed to allow Americans to shop for health insurance.
In the two weeks + since the opening of the online exchanges, many Americans have all but given up — for now at least — on trying to access the federal system. Some are having better luck on state-run exchanges (e.g., Maryland and DC).
Here are screen shots seen by many people who have tried to establish an account on the federal exchange — healthcare.gov. These were taken on Wednesday, October 16 — a full two weeks into Open Enrollment.
1 – Maybe — just maybe — if we wait long enough the account will be created!
2 – No such luck! System unavailable!
Yikes! It seems the federal exchange — which is the exchange for Virginia residents — is still having some trouble.
What should you do if you want to shop for 2014 health insurance now?
You can click on the links below to go directly to the websites of two of the major health insurance carriers in the MD/VA/DC area. You will be able to browse off-exchange 2014 plans and rates.
Anthem BlueCross BlueShield (Virginia)
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (Maryland, DC, Northern Virginia)
We are still awaiting 2014 information from some of our other carriers and hope to have that soon.
You can also browse plans — both 2013 plans in which you can enroll before the end of this year and 2014 plans that will be effective next year — on our website, www.vamedicalplans.com.
If you think you may be eligible for a subsidy and therefore must purchase your insurance on the exchange, we can help you with that too. We are exploring all options for enrolling our clients (e.g., paper applications, online when the system is available, etc.), whether you live in Virginia, Maryland, or the District of Columbia.
We are helping clients every day to make their 2014 health insurance decisions. Let us help you too! Visit one of the sites above, or give us a call or email.
We appreciate your patience as we manage a high volume of calls and emails.
