What to Do If You're Frustrated or Fed Up With Healthcare.gov

 

Many people have turned to social media to vent and seek solutions -- an insurance agent or broker may also be a big help.

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For many Americans, affordable coverage and streamlined enrollment still seem like faraway goals. Below are a couple of strategies to help you get your health insurance needs met.

Common Complaints from Health Insurance Applicants

The list of complaints from those caught in the health exchange bureaucracy is long, commonly including:

  • the U.S. government doesn't really care about affordable health care for its citizens
  • (during the Trump administration) cutting support for help resources -- for example, slashing funding for in-person helpers and reducing hours at healthcare.gov
  • health insurance exchange websites are still buggy or broken
  • phone and chat hold times are unreasonable, and representatives often don’t have helpful answers to questions 
  • applicants can’t easily compare health plan benefits and costs
  • applicants can’t figure out whether their current health care providers are included in the plan they’re considering
  • applicants choose plans only to discover later that they can’t afford them
  • application information isn’t recorded properly (or protected from privacy violations) by the health care exchange
  • exchanges are slow to respond to problems with applications, premium payments, or tax forms, and
  • health insurance plans are sometimes canceled or changed without notice.

A review of marketplace social media sites shows that frustration is all too common, and expectations for improvement in the new enrollment season are low. hat can you do?

What can you do?

Try Social Media to Get a Response From Your Health Insurance Exchange

Social media is a useful tool for more than just complaining about problems with a health insurance exchange. In many cases, it’s one of the best ways to get a direct response to a problem. Many exchanges respond to social media posts with speed and courtesy for one simple reason -- the complaints are public, and the exchanges want to protect their images. If you’re trying to solve a specific problem and can’t get someone at the exchange to talk to you, consider becoming a squeaky wheel on social media. Be clear, firm, polite, and persistent, and you may see some movement on your problem.

If your issue is particularly egregious, you may even want to reach out to the local press to see if they are interested in covering your story.

Twitter is a good place to start. To find Healthcare.gov on social media, see How to Sign Up for Obamacare in Missouri

Ask a Broker or Insurance Agent to Help With Your Health Insurance Application

At no cost to you, a good health insurance broker or agent can:

  • help you understand whether you qualify for Obamacare subsidies
  • compare the health insurance plans available to you, and
  • make recommendations on the coverage that’s best for you and your family.

Just as important, the broker can walk your application through Healthcare.gov from start to finish, saving you time and frustration.

To enroll you under the Affordable Care Act, a broker or insurance agent must be licensed. You can usually find a list of brokers in your state by visiting your health insurance exchange. (See Get Help Finding a Health Insurance Plan in Missouri.)

You can also speak directly with a licensed Missouri health insurance broker by calling 1-800-943-6832. (Please be advised that we receive advertising income from the licensed brokers who offer their services through this telephone number.)

You won’t pay the broker; they earn a commission from the insurance company when they enroll you in a plan. For that reason, you may want to do some comparison shopping on your own to be sure the agent has considered all your options.

Finally, when using a broker, keep in mind that you can get tax credits and subsidies only if you enroll through your state’s health insurance exchange. Make sure your agent or broker assesses your eligibility for savings and, if you qualify, submits your application through Healthcare.gov.


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Jurisdictional relevance: US

Legal Consumer - MissouriLaw. The content of this article pertains to all US states and counties.


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