Coloradans examine options as health exchange debuts

BOULDER, Colo. — Beth Bartel recently received a health insurance rejection letter from Kaiser Permanente.

A condition required daily medication, and thus Kaiser ruled out the 37-year-old part-time social media manager, who’s looking for full-time work.

“I understand what a huge risk it is to be without health insurance,” she said. “I was looking for a plan ideally at or around $200 a month.”

Bartel isn’t sure what to do next, but on Tuesday she got on the Connect for Health Colorado website to check out her options under a health insurance exchange created under the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare. While it wasn’t exactly akin to waiting in line at the Apple Store for the latest iPhone, she was intrigued enough to be among the early adopters on the day the exchanges became available.

As she began navigating the site for individuals, she explored whether she would qualify for tax credits or assistance. A recent graduate with a master’s degree in journalism, she input information that included her first name, her birth date and the approximate income she expects to earn next year.

“I’m going to say 30 grand, and I certainly hope it’s more than that,” she said. But if that’s it, Bartel would qualify for a tax credit of $35.33 per month.

Then she proceeded to look at plans available for her.

“They don’t know anything about my health history,” she said.

That is by design. Beginning in January, the law prohibits insurers from even asking about existing conditions.

The cheapest plan offered on Connect for Health Colorado was from Kaiser, for $145.04 a month with the tax credit taken into consideration. But the $5,000 deductible, which must be met before there’s a copay for generic medication, didn’t seem financially feasible for her.

Bartel then used a filter to identify some of the 49 available plans with lower deductibles and found a Kaiser plan for about $262 a month with no deductible and a $15 copay for generic drugs.

“This might be the way to go,” she said. “I’m thinking I’d be saving money by getting this plan.”

But after cruising around the website for an hour, Bartel tried to create an account and wound up in a loop where she was asked for a user name and password every time she clicked on "Create an Account."

She returned to the main site and found this message: “Due to overwhelming interest, we are temporarily suspending the creation of accounts.”

Still, Bartel said she was impressed with the exchange site. People looking to sign up can do so by Dec. 15 for coverage that goes into effect Jan. 1.

“I think the concept is good,” she said. “I like being able to look and compare these plans on one site rather than having to go through each different system.”

In Denver on Tuesday, Brad Jones provided what he called “volunteer-powered health care,” working as a paramedic at a volunteer fire station.

The 30-year-old makes a living as a Web developer and is a freelance writer for The Daily Caller, a conservative website run by former MSNBC personality Tucker Carlson. That day, the premium for his individual health coverage through Rocky Mountain Health Plans increased by about $60 a month, to $170.

That was not the only change to his health insurance.

“I was informed over the summer that it would be terminated effective Dec. 31 because of the changes related to Obamacare, the ACA,” he said. “They’ve essentially said they’re going to reorganize all their offerings to fit in with the government setup.”

His current plan is eligible for a $5,000 health savings account that Jones said he finds attractive.

“I’m young, I’m healthy,” he said. “The HSA provides me tax advantages that otherwise aren’t available. I got laser eye surgery last year. I can flow the money through the HSA and use it for elective procedures.”

Rocky Mountain Health Plans has suggested some alternatives for 2014. “None of them are any cheaper than about $250 a month,” Jones said.

He will shop around to check out other plans, and he may use the health exchange, even though he’s opposed to the new health care law. “I’ll certainly take a look at it,” he said. “I’m not going to not put that on the menu because I oppose it for political reasons.”

If he had his way, he would opt for a plan that covered only unexpected health catastrophes. “There’s really not catastrophic coverage available anymore,” he said. “There are so many mandated types of coverage, it drives up the costs.”

Jones would prefer to see regulation cut back instead of increased. “I don’t think we ever have tried a true market for health insurance,” he said. “Even before the Affordable Care Act, it is one of the most highly regulated industries in the U.S.”

Then there’s me.

I’m a 55-year-old woman who recently became a self-employed journalist after eight years as a journalism instructor. Almost 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Faced with a monthly fee of about $660 to continue the low-deductible plan of my former employer or a $900 monthly bill to join my husband’s high-deductible plan, I went to the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield website.

My new plan — with a maximum $6,800 deductible — costs $362 a month. That’s a 25 percent increase over the base rate of $289 because of the cancer, but at least Anthem didn’t reject me.

Still, I’d like a lower deductible. And a lower premium.

So I went on the Connect for Health Colorado site Tuesday morning. (Full disclosure: My brother is a consultant for this quasi-governmental nonprofit, working on procurement, technology and analysis.)

Knowing that my annual household income wouldn’t provide any subsidies or tax breaks, I went directly to "Create an Account," getting there before the brief morning suspension of account creation. I answered questions about my birth date, location and more.

A few times I ran into an error page, but each time, I hit the "Back" button, re-sent the information and proceeded.

Eventually I got a list of 49 possible plans, priced from lowest to highest. The lowest: $324.90 a month from Kaiser, with a maximum out-of-pocket expense of $6,350. I selected that plan and two others from competing companies to compare and downloaded an Excel spreadsheet. A plan with Anthem is $442.70 per month with a $6,350 deductible.

After spending about 30 minutes on the site, I moved on. But I still have plenty of questions.