Health care reform is looking to people like me -- late twentysomethings and thirtysomethings -- to switch from no insurance to the Affordable Care Act. <\/p>\n
But I value my time over money, and I don't mind paying higher amounts for convenience. I have no interest in being on hold with customer service reps or dealing with a clunky website, concerns I had when the website first rolled out. <\/p>\n
I didn't decide to check out the federal health exchange website until the weekend before Christmas. Days before, a former employer left a voicemail that my temporary health insurance through COBRA would jump up by 20 percent. <\/p>\n
COBRA, the Con-solidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, had been eating through my bank account each month since the spring when I left a job in Vermont. <\/p>\n
I lived in California for most of this year, and there were even some months where health insurance cost more than my monthly apartment rent. <\/p>\n
I work here at The Times as a government and politics reporter, and my health benefits will start March 1. I had figured I would just keep paying for COBRA, but the thought of not having insurance for some months crossed my mind -- I don't really need it. <\/p>\n
But after hearing that voicemail, I signed up on Dec. 22 through HealthCare.gov. It took about 10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes at most. <\/p>\n
Then I spent about an hour altogether last week making sure the enrollment was successful, calling up customer service staff at the marketplace and my new Pittsburgh-area insurance provider. <\/p>\n
Two phone calls and two online chat sessions later with the health insurance marketplace, I found out that if you live in Pennsylvania, you apparently can't upload documents through HealthCare.gov. <\/p>\n
Things like that made me think the website was built by teenagers. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here is the original post: <\/p>\n
Why I wavered on signing up for Affordable Care Act<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Health care reform is looking to people like me -- late twentysomethings and thirtysomethings -- to switch from no insurance to the Affordable Care Act. But I value my time over money, and I don't mind paying higher amounts for convenience. Continue reading