Costs Slow, Choices Abound In New Obamacare Open Enrollment by Forbes
9 years ago
The Affordable Care Act and its recalibrated healthcare.gov web site forges ahead this week with many consumers preparing to buy plans insurers report will be at a “lower cost” than last year and with more choices.
A new study from a nonpartisan group and information from health insurer earnings reports indicate the second year of open enrollment – the period when eligible Americans can sign up for benefits or make changes from last year’s choices – will bring a larger array of government-subsidized health plan options. Open enrollment begins this Saturday, Nov. 15 and runs to Feb. 15 of next year.
Across the country, there are more than 20 percent more insurers participating than last year according to the federal government and industry analysts. In Illinois, for example, the department of insurance Friday said the number of qualified plans on that state’s exchange “more than doubled from 165 plans offered in 2014 to more than 400 plans being offered in 2015.”
