'Obamacare' Enrollment, Insurance Smarts, and PA's Marketplace

Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary

On Monday, the ‘Obamacare’ enrollment site went live in preparations for the October 1 open enrollment date. With just eight weeks left until the enrollment begins, the government wanted to allow users to create their personal account and get a feel for the new system. According to Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services Secretary, when asked to

comment on the site launch, “let me be clear, we are on target and ready to flip the switch on Oct. 1." Users can access the site and begin setting up their account at healthcare.gov. However, one of the main concerns with the process is how well the technically unsound Americans will receive it.

Therefore, we asked our intern, Dave, to go ahead and see how difficult it would be to set up his username and password. Follow along as Dave shows us how he received the initial enrollment process:

“I was interested to see how it would work and how simple it would be for individuals who may not be the savviest with computers. Upon completing my registration I found it was quite simple and most people with basic computer skills should have no problem setting this up.”

"On the homepage of healthcare.gov there is a large green button that says 'See Your Options' upon selecting that you will be given this screen asking whether or not you’re enrolling for an individual or family plan or for a business that you own or operate."

“They first ask you a few questions before you’re able to create your personal account. These questions simply ask what type of plan you are looking for."

"The next screen asks you your gender the state you reside in and the age category you fall under: under 30, 30-64, and 65+. The next three pages are where you will need to answer more than just simply your name and age. This is when it will help to know the type of plan you’re looking for."

"Upon answering those questions you will be brought to a results page, this page gives you three options: 'Options You Might Be Eligible For', 'Top Information For You', and the last option is 'Your Next Step.' This allows you to create your login as well as print a checklist, based upon the answers you entered you may print a customized checklist to help get you ready for the enrollment. Upon creating your login you will receive an email confirming your registration, this does not confirm anything other than you created a username and password. This is what you will be asked in order to create the login account."

"You will not be able to actually enroll in a plan until October 1, however, they said that you will be able to shop for various plans as of September. Currently, no official date for has been released."

Kaiser Foundation Health Poll

The process seems to be as easy as it can be when dealing with health insurance, a subject not very few people are informed about. Actually, there are some concerns ‘Obamacare’ will be a failure due to the population’s lack of general health insurance knowledge. According to TIME, “Understanding the details of a standard health insurance policy is hard enough… the process of insuring one’s health can be a confusing jumble of paperwork and red tape.” In a recent POLL by the Kaiser Foundation, nearly 50% have no idea what their state’s decisions on exchanges (marketplace) are. Furthermore, nearly 80% have no clue what state chances will be made to Medicare and Medicaid.

PA has 8 insurers on their marketplace

In Pennsylvania, we are gearing up for the beginning of the new ‘Obamacare’ marketplace, even though our governor, Crobett, opposes ‘Obamacare.’ Pennsylvania has eight insurers ready to offer health insurance plans on the marketplace and PA will offer individual policies for Jan 1, 2014 and group policies come 2015. According to the Tribune Review, “Highmark, the state's largest health insurer, and the state's three other nonprofit Blue Cross companies want to sell health plans in the exchange. The other Blue Cross companies are Capital Blue Cross, which covers the central part of the state, Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross, and Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania.” Moreover, UPMC and Geisinger, the two health systems, will be found on the exchange; Aetna and Health America, who recently joined forces, will also be found on Pennsylvania’s exchange (marketplace) come enrollment time.