The following article by Emily Gee was posted on the Center for American Progress website November 1, 2017:
A health network patient navigator, center, helps a man with documents during an Affordable Care Act enrollment event at a library in Texas, February 2015.
Today is the first day of open enrollment for 2018 coverage through the health insurance marketplaces. Consumers have from November 1 to December 15 in most states to switch plans or select new coverage. The marketplaces are open for business and will offer a wide range of affordable plans, including more low-cost plans than ever before for subsidized consumers, despite a turbulent past year for the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The Center for American Progress finds that the average marketplace consumer shopping on the HealthCare.gov website will be able to choose among multiple issuers and about 26 different plans. There is at least one issuer participating in every county in the country, and 71 percent of HealthCare.gov enrollees live in counties where two or more issuers will be offering 2018 coverage. (see Table 1) Continue reading “Health Insurance Marketplaces Offer More Low-Cost Options than Ever Before”