2019 Open Enrollment Runs from November 1 through December 15, 2018
Plans sold during Open Enrollment start January 1, 2019. After December 15, consumers can enroll in 2019 health insurance only if they qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.
Federal Health Insurance Exchange 2019 Open Enrollment (CMS press release with information and resources).
Important message from HHS regarding Find Local Help
Assisters are encouraged to ensure their listings on Find Local Help are accurate in preparation for Open Enrollment, which begins on November 1st. A Quick Reference Guide for Assisters on how to access and update listings on Find Local Help using the Upkeep Tool can be found here.
Some Resources for Consumers:
Health Insurance Marketplace Call Center: 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325). For customer service support, to start or finish an application, compare plans, enroll or ask a question. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Closed Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.
NEW Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator
Note: This calculator has been updated with premiums for 2019 plans.
This tool from the Kaiser Family Foundation provides estimates of health insurance premiums and subsidies for people purchasing insurance on their own in health insurance exchanges (or “Marketplaces”) created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With this calculator, you can enter your income, age, and family size to estimate your eligibility for subsidies and how much you could spend on health insurance. You can also use this tool to estimate your eligibility for Medicaid.
NEW As Open Enrollment Begins, Good Reasons to Visit Insurance Marketplaces (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
NEW Buying Children’s Dental Coverage Through the Marketplace
(Families USA and Children’s Dental Health Project)
NEW Why Do Short-Term Health Insurance Plans Have Lower Premiums Than Plans That Comply with the ACA?
(Kaiser Health News, 10/31/18)
NEW Consumers’ Checkbook 2019 Plan Benefits Summary
Plan Benefits Summaries by State
These summaries are downloadable excel files, including tabs for metal level of marketplace plans, with side-by-side comparison of all 2019 plans available in each county in a state. It now includes guides for Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, with more states added daily. If you would like to download the guide for your state, please share your contact information with Consumers’ Checkbook so they can collect feedback to improve the guide over time. For questions, please contact Eric Ellsworth at eellsworth@checkbook.org or Dave Chandrasekaran at dave.chandrasekaran@gmail.org.
- 6 Common Open Enrollment Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (TIME, 10/29/18)
- What to Watch Out for During Open Enrollment (CNBC, 10/27/18)
- The Ins and Outs of High-Deductible Health Care Plans (Minn. Public Radio, 49-minute audio story, 10/29/18)
- Health Plan Comparison Worksheet: A worksheet created by Cover Missouri to adequately compare health plans available on and off of the ACA marketplace.
Resources for Assisters:
NEW Navigator Resource Guide on Private Health Insurance Coverage and the Health Insurance Marketplace
The Georgetown Center on Health Insurance Reform (CHIR) has updated its Navigator Resource Guide, which provides answers to 300 frequently asked questions (FAQs) about ACA requirements and health insurance, and commonly asked questions for small businesses and individuals with employer-based coverage. The Guide includes a “What’s New in 2019” section, which includes information about the new policies for marketplace coverage in 2019 that will affect this year’s open enrollment. Additional publications by CHIR researchers can be found here.
The 2019 Assister Readiness Webinar Series is a supplement to the 2019 web-based Assister Certification Training, and is intended for assisters operating in the Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM), but assisters operating in State-Based Marketplaces that use the Federal Platform (SBM-FPs) may also find the Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4 modules helpful. The series will be delivered in weekly installments, each of which will include several on-demand educational modules, and a corresponding LIVE Friday webinar that will recap the week’s topics and give participants a chance to ask questions. To receive invitations to the live webinars and notifications when new material is posted, email ASSISTERLISTSERV@cms.hhs.gov with “Add to listserv” as the subject. Module/Webinar topics by week:
- Friday, Nov. 9, 2:00 ET – Making Coverage Accessible
(Sign up at assisterlistserv@cms.hhs.gov to get registration details.)
- Materials from previous webinars:
- Week 1- Assister Roles and Responsibilities
- Week 2- 2019 Individual Marketplace Overview
- Week 3- Helping Consumers Apply and Enroll in Coverage
- Week 4- Making Coverage Accessible
Other Resources for Assisters:
- Short-Term Plans Resource: A palm card designed by the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative to inform consumers about the pitfalls of short-term limited duration health plans.
- Marketplace Assister Training Resources
- Technical Assistance Resources
- CMS Marketplace Applications & Forms
- CMS Outreach and Education Resources
- Marketplace.CMS.gov Page
- CMSzONE Community Online Resource Library Pilot for Marketplace Assisters
- Find Local Help
Health Insurance Marketplace Call Center: 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325). For customer service support, to start or finish an application, compare plans, enroll or ask a question. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Closed Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.
CACs and Navigators should call their dedicated phone lines so the Call Center can better track the needs of assisters. The Assister Line can also help with password resets and can help with access to non-application SEPs. Contact your Navigator Project Officer (for Navigators) or your designated organization leadership (for CACs) for more information on the Assister Line.
- Navigator Marketplace Call Center line: 1-855-868-4678
- CAC Marketplace Call Center line: 1-855-879-2683
SHOP Call Center: For customer service support, including assisting employers and employees apply for and enroll in SHOP. 1-800-706-7893 (TTY: 711). Available M-F 9:00 am-5:00 pm EST. Closed New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and Christmas.
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