Hospitals and health clinics are gearing up to help the public enroll in health insurance starting Saturday.
On that day, the federal insurance marketplace — healthcare.gov — will start accepting applications, determine any premium tax credits and provide a list of plans available locally.
The website’s 2013 rollout was a mess early on, but navigators said numerous fixes and upgrades should make the process much smoother. Local health care providers have been hosting informational sessions since October and will continue to aid people through the course of the enrollment period, which ends Feb. 15.
As of April, 132,423 Indiana residents had selected a marketplace plan, ranking the state 17th in the nation, and about 89 percent of them received premium tax credits to offset some of the cost.
Enrollees will likely see a cost increase of up to 5 percent if they renew their existing plans. But there should be more choice in terms of plans and providers this year. Nine companies will offer 975 plans, which aren’t available in every county, compared to three companies and 278 plans last year. Last year, all of Indiana’s plans were HMOs, but with more plans and providers active in Indiana this year, that could change.
Lauren Lamb, outreach and enrollment coordinator for HealthLinc, said much of the information process is the same as last year, but there are some new issues to discuss with potential applicants.
“We’re focusing more on letting people know what options they have, including some not commonly known exemptions,” Lamb said.
The exemptions are notable as the fee for not carrying insurance increases from $95 to 2 percent of household income this year.
Many of the exemptions are to help people with financial hardship, including people who were uninsured for less than three months, people would have to spend more than 8 percent of their income on coverage, religious exemptions and if they are homeless.
Under the Affordable Care Act, states have the option of expanding Medicaid from 100 percent of the poverty level to 138 percent of the poverty level, but Indiana so far hasn’t chosen to do that. Indiana has submitted a Medicaid waiver application — dubbed the Health Indiana Plan or HIP 2.0 — to help expand coverage for residents, but federal officials have not approved it yet.
“We have a large number of uninsured in Porter County, so we’ve had a number of people who we’ve helped with Medicaid enrollment,” she said. “It’s a big thing that people didn’t realize they qualified for Medicaid.”
Lamb said many people are in the coverage gap, but they may qualify for a premium tax credit that might make coverage affordable.
It’s important that all of those renewing update their financial information,
Valparaiso resident Laurie Sendera attended one of HealthLinc’s sessions. She is covered by the Healthy Indiana Plan, but she wants to see other options.
“It’s been very, very good for urgent care and at hospitals, but you really have to search for specialists like dermatologists and gynecologists,” Sendera said. “Not all private physicians accept it, so the closest dermatologist in the plan was in Rensselaer.”
Doctor choice is particularly important to many applicants, but if the website is unclear, it’s best to check with your physician’s billing department, HealthLinc enrollment specialist Trisha Poncher said.