HealthCare.gov blog

Published onJanuary 16, 2014

Get covered to stay in the game

When sickness or injury strike, having health insurance can mean the difference between falling and getting back up and dropping out of the game.
I know, because I was at the top of my game - I felt invincible - but when I went for my regular team physical it turned out I had a serious kidney disease. Thankfully it was caught in time to treat it and luckily, I was insured.

Published onJanuary 8, 2014

Millions transitioning to coverage

Since October 1st, more than 6 million people have enrolled in coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace® or Medicaid.
If you’ve completed an application and chosen a plan on the Marketplace, you may still need to take a couple of steps in order to ensure that your coverage takes effect. Most important, you need to pay your first month’s premium on time. Follow the instructions from your insurer about how and when to make your premium payment and the due date. You should also contact the plan you selected to confirm that enrollment has, in fact, taken place.

Published onDecember 24, 2013

Couldn’t enroll by December 23? We can still help you get covered

We know many of you have been working hard to finish enrolling in a health plan in the Health Insurance Marketplace®. Even though we have passed the December 23 enrollment deadline for coverage starting January 1, we don’t want you to miss out if you’ve been trying to enroll.
Sometimes despite your best efforts, you might have run into delays caused by heavy traffic to HealthCare.gov, maintenance periods, or other issues with our systems that prevented you from finishing the process on time. If this happened to you, don’t worry – we still may be able to help you get covered as soon as January 1.

Published onDecember 19, 2013

Cancelled plan? You’ve got coverage options

For millions of Americans quality, affordable coverage is just around the corner. And making sure people know about the new options available to them, and providing a smooth transition to this new day for coverage is our top priority

Providing a smooth transition

We’ve taken a number of steps to help you:
  1. You now have more time to enroll and pay your premium
  2. We’ve improved the window shopping experience on HealthCare.gov
  3. PCIP enrollees can continue their coverage through January 2014.

Published onDecember 3, 2013

New and more robust HealthCare.gov tools to help you enroll

Welcome back to the Health Insurance Marketplace®! We’ve made many improvements over the last eight weeks to help you complete your enrollment.
Here are some of the new features you’ll find on HealthCare.gov:
More robust window shopping. You can now see detailed information about each Marketplace health insurance plan offered in your area before you apply. This new tool will allow you to see plan prices displayed much more accurately, based on the household information you supply. You can compare plans, covered benefits, physician and hospital networks, and more. No login or application required. Just answer a few simple questions to see plans and prices in your area. You will still need to complete the application to find out how you can get lower costs, but this is a much enhanced version of earlier information and one more way you can get the information you need to help you get ready to enroll and find a plan that fits your needs and budget.

Published onNovember 12, 2013

3 tips to remember when you create a Marketplace account

We know that the initial consumer experience has been frustrating for many of you. We're committed to making things better and providing the help and health coverage you need.
In particular, many people told us they had problems creating their Marketplace accounts – that things got “stuck” somewhere along the way and they never got across the finish line. We’re working hard to fix all of the technical problems on HealthCare.gov and we can report that most users are now able to successfully create online Marketplace accounts.
You’ll know if you had problems with your account if you never got to see a big “SUCCESS” screen. Maybe the security questions froze, or you never got an email with a verification link, or the email link didn’t work. If this sounds like your experience, now is the time to try again to create a Marketplace account.

Published onOctober 21, 2013

We’re listening — and improving every day

We know using HealthCare.gov has been frustrating for many Americans. The initial consumer experience of HealthCare.gov has not lived up to the expectations of the American people. We are committed to doing better.
We’ve been gathering feedback since the day we launched – from our customer service representatives, social media channels, and through hundreds of thousands of online surveys and comments. And we’re listening.
We’ve been making changes to respond directly to your feedback and will continue to do so. A few of our most important changes so far:

Published onOctober 21, 2013

4 ways to apply for coverage in the Health Insurance Marketplace®

4 ways to apply for Marketplace coverage4 ways to apply for Marketplace coverage
Open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace® is here and we’re working hard to help you get covered. We’re making improvements to HealthCare.gov and more people are applying and getting covered every day.

How to apply for Marketplace coverage