DH and J have been on a private insurance plan since he was born bc adding them to my work plan would be crazy expensive. Even more than private! Well our move has put them in a different coverage area and I'm having to reapply. I'm wondering if things are less messed up with the new site or if we should steer clear?
Not looking for a debate as to whether it's a good or bad government choice, just wondering if anyone has any positive or negative feedback?? Halp 
coconut / 8498 posts
We're not in it, but I was talking about this with a friend yesterday. She said that half if the people in her office got on it while the others went with other plans. The people that signed up still have no clue whether or my they have insurance. Other than a, "congrats! You signed up!" Email, they can't get any other information. They've said it's a huge mess, and they can't even make appointments because they don't have any information about their plans.
I'm sure not everyone has had that experience, but it's been pretty normal in the DC exchange. Hope someone else can help you out!
grapefruit / 4136 posts
@Weagle: thanks for your response! We talked about keeping out old plan for the year then maybe changing next year...maybe kinks will be worked out by then?
pomelo / 5789 posts
I switched from my Crazy Expensive COBRA plan (Blue Cross $450/month) to a mid level Cigna Plan (healthcare.gov silver $300/month).
I called to confirm my doctor would accept Cigna before switching, and then made the change.
The new plan took 4 weeks to send me my cards, so I didn't have them for my appointment.
When I got there, they told me they wouldn't take my new insurance.they were only taking private and employer Cigna, not healthcare.gov Cigna.
Since I had been waiting for this appt forever I decided to pay out of pocket.
The out of pocket cost was $300 but the doctor reduced it to $50. I had been on his wait list for 6 months and there's only one other specialist in town. I regret switching, and wish I'd stayed on cobra.
Advice:
call all doctors before switching and make sure they accept that specific plan. Just because it's Cigna, Blue Cross, etc is not good enough!
There will be a long wait for your cards. Make sure to schedule accordingly.
pomelo / 5789 posts
@Weagle: I had that experience too! Was on hold with Cigna for 5 hours in order to pay first premium and took forever to get member cards.
I spent days trying to get through on the phone, but most of the times I got a message "all lines are busy try again later "
coconut / 8498 posts
@wheres_c: I can't imagine how frustrating that is. A lot of the people I've talked to about it work on Capitol Hill. They've been used as political pawns in this whole thing, which is frustrating enough having been in their shoes. Then, to be told they must go on the exchange or pay for their own healthcare (12k+/year on already meager salaries for the DC CoL) and they don't even know what they signed up for. Because the DC exchange still hasn't worked out details of plans. Argh!
nectarine / 2085 posts
Do you qualify for a subsidy? If not, you can buy a plan that is ACA-compliant directly from an insurer and bypass the government's website entirely. I highly recommend this option if it's available to you because the insurers have their acts together (and will send you confirmation of your insurance/cards promptly) whereas the government does not, at least in my experience.
You can use healthcare.gov (without logging in) to figure out what plans you might be interested in and then just go buy your choice directly from the insurance company. Go here to find the plans: https://www.healthcare.gov/find-premium-estimates/ .
As others have said, be careful to check the networks with the insurers before you buy a plan, because most of the insurers have "special" (read: highly restricted) networks for ACA plans, especially the ones with low premiums. The extent of the networks sort of depends on your geographic location. I've heard it's better in some places than others, and I know for certain that it varies greatly from insurer to insurer. Call the insurance companies and double-check that your doctor/hospital is in-network before you buy, or you could be in for a really rude surprise.
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