There are 39 days left for open enrollment in the Affordable care Act for the 202 plan year, with Trump sabotage as rampant as ever. That includes the fact that there are only six weeks of enrollment this year and basically no outreach or education efforts from the administration.
There are also the junk plans that the administration is allowing under new rules that are being marketed along with ACA plans. A consumer advocate, Jason Resendez with Consumers for Quality Care advises all consumers do their homework on their insurance plans, but particularly people in the market for Obamacare policies.
What to look out for are "short-term, limited-duration" insurance plans. These plans are low-cost and thus attractive, but because the administration has ruled that they don't have to comply with many of the ACA's protections, people relying on them can end up with huge medical bills. "These are plans that often exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions; they're not required to cover preventive services, and have a host of other substantial risks for consumers," he said. "So, these are really 'junk plans.'"
The best advice: do your homework. Call the insurer and ask if the plan is limited duration, if it has annual caps on payout, if it covers preventive care, and prescription drugs, and mental health. And know what resources are already out there to help figure it all out and help others. Get Covered America's open enrollment toolkit provides all the information you need to get enrolled or help others. And, as always, Healthcare.gov is the place to get it done.