Open Enrollment for individual health insurance in Louisiana starts Nov. 1. It ends Dec. 15. This six-week period is much shorter than any previous year, and since the administration has decided to cut off most enrollment advertising, many of our friends and neighbors here who buy their own health insurance are unaware Open Enrollment has changed.
A few months ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Healthcare Act (AHCA). The bill next went to the Senate, which created several of its own bills, including the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). While these bills are not actively being debated as I write this, they are far from dead, as is the “repeal and replace” debate, which still rages.
Blue Cross considers it an important part of our mission to improve the health and lives and Louisianians. We want to give our family, friends and neighbors financial security in their day-to-day lives against terrible illnesses, give them a clear path to improving their health and help them put off chronic disease for as long as possible. A better quality of life for everyone is our goal, and we’re currently doing that as a participant in healthcare.gov.
One thing you learn if you work around insurance for a while is that instability and unpredictability drive everybody’s costs up. A lot. And it turns out it doesn’t matter if that’s car insurance, homeowners insurance, life insurance or health insurance.
In January 2010, just a few months before healthcare reform law passed, I got a study by a national actuarial firm that measured the impact of state regulations on health insurance plan pricing. This study showed WIDE variation in the definition of an individual health insurance policy, and how plans were priced, from state to state.
Jan. 15, 2016, is an important date if you are buying health insurance coverage on healthcare.gov. It means, as of this posting (Monday, Jan. 11, 2016), you have four days to make a decision to get a plan for February 1, 2016. If you don’t hit buy and select a plan by Jan. 15, the EARLIEST you can have health insurance coverage is March 1, 2016.
