The impact of the troubled online federal health insurance marketplace — healthcare.gov — has been felt by many Americans trying to manage the transition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), otherwise known as “Obamacare”. And now we have a numeric representation of the impact — last week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released enrollment numbers since the opening of the health insurance marketplace on October 1. The
Obama’s News Conference on Affordable Care Act — What Does it Mean?
Yesterday President Obama held a national news conference in which he apologized for “fumbling” the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — otherwise known as “Obamacare”. In addition to his apology, the President suggested a fix for the millions of Americans whose current policies are being canceled by their health insurance carrier. The Proposed Fix The proposed fix involves letting people hold on to their non-ACA-compliant health insurance plans
Browsing the Health Insurance Exchange
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
Jon Katz Interviewed on National Public Radio
While busily responding to calls and emails on the second day of Open Enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, our own Jon Katz was surprised to get a call from National Public Radio (NPR) Senior Reporter, Dan Gorenstein. Seems Mr. Gorenstein wanted to get Jon’s take on the insurance broker’s role in health care reform. The interview ran on NPR’s show, Marketplace, on Wednesday, October 2. Click on the microphone
October 1 — What to Expect
We have been writing for several months urging you to be ready to act on October 1 — the date Open Enrollment begins for health insurance plans effective in 2014. Everywhere you turn, you’re probably hearing that date in conjunction with Obamacare — the Affordable Care Act. Well, guess what? Have you ever stood in line at a popular store on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving)? Ever lined up