Rolling Out the ACA Plans

I can’t remember a more exciting week in the world of health insurance. I’ve been closely watching the rollout of the new Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance plans. The plans were put on the market on October 1, 2013. Shopping for an ACA plan is supposed to be easily done through official ACA websites. The new plans are supposed to be so reasonable that they will be affordable for many who are presently uninsured.

My peers who sell a lot of health insurance, plus mainstream media, tell me that registering online for an ACA plan is currently riddled with delays and glitches. I believe this is due to a huge public interest in learning about the new coverage.

The government continues to promise to fix the glitches and make enrollment in an ACA plan smooth and easy.

I advise using perspective and patience with the ACA rollout.

In some states, the ACA rollout is rocking and rolling along, with a good success rate, according to the article “Heath Act Embraced in California“, from the October 11, 2013 New York Times.

Here’s another article from the October 11, 2013 New York Times, titled, “In Florida, Opposition by the State and Snags in Signing Up on the Web”. It describes a high rate, at least so far, of failure to enroll in ACA plans. Florida’s experience is dismal and nearly the opposite of California’s.

In TX, I’ve heard almost no good news of people being served and successfully finding coverage. Texas did not create its own healthcare exchange. California did. California also spent a lot of money enlisting volunteers to assist the public with the ACA enrollment process. Texas did not. Also like Texas, Florida has fought against the ACA and gone to no effort to support its implementation.

Small wonder successful enrollments in ACA plans here in TX have been next to nil.

I advise patience. These are exciting times for me.