The open enrollment period for the state-based health insurance exchanges established by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) started in November and will continue through February 15th. But knowing which health care options are available for consumers and their families, let alone which of those is the best, can be tricky. To help, Consumer Reports has created a website called HealthLawHelper.org.
The tools available on the site can help consumers determine what their next steps should be if they are having trouble applying for, have too little, are losing, having trouble affording or do not currently have any health insurance. And everyone can come in and just learn about their health care options. The site is able to do this by gathering some information about the user. They do not need anything as personal as names, dates of birth or Social Security Numbers. They will require some information, but nothing more than the consumer would fill out for a survey. Below is some of the information asked for and that the user should have ready:
- State
- US residency status
- Age range
- How many people live in the home
- If the user has children that are 18 years of age or younger
- Current health plan or future health plan
- Income range
- Some follow up questions from there
After entering these items in, all information thereafter will be personalized to the user. Recommendations on next steps are available, along with links to helpful articles written by the experts at Consumer Reports. And everything can be printed or emailed.
This is a great tool that’s very helpful to anyone looking for health insurance information without being overloaded by too much technical information. Be sure to check out HealthLawHelper.org before open enrollment ends on 2/15/15.
