<p>Do you know which insurers will be offering plans? Maybe you could get quotes directly from the insurers.</p>
<p>Thanks, Calmom. Unfortunately, it appears you’re correct about the definition of grandfathering status.</p>
<p>Maine, try this link instead: <a href=“https://www.healthcare.gov/marketplace/global/en_US/registration[/url]”>https://www.healthcare.gov/marketplace/global/en_US/registration</a>
(the other error you got sounds like a browser caching type error…I don’t know whether the above will work for you, but at least for me it goes to the login page)</p>
<p>If that still doesn’t work for you, try clearing your cookies & cache, or using a different browser instead. </p>
<p>(IMHO it’s a bad design/programming issue for the site, but I’ve also had similar problems with major commercial banking/investment sites, so there could be an issue related to security protocols and responsiveness of certain browsers.)</p>
<p>calmom, thanks for the link. I cleared the cookies and was able to get back to my application. Even though I clicked on “Save and Continue” after each one or two questions, most of the info I entered previously was lost. So I will type it in again and see if I can get through all five family members (last time, the website froze on me when I was on the last person).</p>
<p>Here’s a link to the government website database of all exchange plans by state by county with pricing for 27 year olds and 50 year olds – it’s what they are using to generate the misleading “estimates”.</p>
<p><a href=“https://data.healthcare.gov/dataset/QHP-Individual-Medical-Landscape/ba45-xusy[/url]”>https://data.healthcare.gov/dataset/QHP-Individual-Medical-Landscape/ba45-xusy</a></p>
<p>But, you can at least find out the providers in each county.</p>
<p>Maine has Blue Cross Blue Shield and one other.</p>
<p>For Anthem Blue Cross, you can go to this website:</p>
<p><a href=“https://shop.anthem.com/sales/eox/shop/demographics/home[/url]”>https://shop.anthem.com/sales/eox/shop/demographics/home</a></p>
<p>Enter your age, zip code, and smoking status. Click continue and you’ll get to the page of plans offered in your area. Select Quick Apply Plans (non-exchange) and Subsidy Eligible Plans (exchange plans) to see all of them. You can then filter just Bronze or select your Favorites and so forth.</p>
<p>This should work for Maine or any other state where Anthem Blue Cross is offering plans.</p>
<p>MaineLonghorn, I wouldn’t even waste your time in prime user hours. Middle of the night is probably the best shot on the gov site. But, the link I gave to the Anthem version should give you what you need for at least one of the Maine providers. And Anthem’s website works fine.</p>
<p>I believe that the issue with pediatric dental is that different companies write dental insurance than health insurance – so it can’t be done with a single policy. I think that ACA requires that the pediatric dental be offered and it probably is all wrapped together in a subsidized plan-- but unsubsidized buyers will be paying extra. The prices for the dental coverage are reasonable, so that’s not the problem – it’s just that the dental networks are limited and the payments for dental are not particularly generous – so its not worth the premiums for many people. (You get the situation where the dental insurance pays the dentist some small percentage of the fee for a particular service – the dentists will all accept that money toward the bill, but then they will bill the patient for the remainder).</p>
<p>calmom:</p>
<p>I think the cookies cache problem may be related to the fact that you can’t choose a password that is one of the last six passwords you’ve used. I guess clearing cookies might wipe out the record of the last six passwords that the government checks when you try to register (not sure how happy I am about that). Suffice to say I picked very very UNIQUE password on my umpteenth try to come up with something that the website would accept. I can confirm that profanity is allowed in healthcare.gov passwords. :)</p>
<p>calmom:</p>
<p>Will I have to pay the tax penalty for a non-qualifying plan if I don’t purchase the pediatric dental policy? I have no dependent children.</p>
<p>Calmom, if the group plan provided by your employer offers a few plans or options (as most group plans do) and the employee changed plans within the group plan since March, 23, 2010, does the employee lose the grandfather status even if the group plan with the carrier was in effect on March 23, 2010? Are all employees in a group plan grandfathered even if some of the employees made changes since the 2010 date?</p>
<p>Okay Calmom, I may have answered my question. It looks like the employee and family would have to transfer to the grandfathered plan ( the plan in existence on March 23, 2010) if they want grandfather status. Is that correct?</p>
<p>The Obama administration has corrected an oddity that the indefatigable Calmom pointed out earlier in this thread: the open enrollment period for the exchanges for 2014 ends March 31, 2014, but if an uninsured person buys a policy on March 31, then that person will have been uninsured for the first three months of 2014, and will be liable for the tax penalty.</p>
<p>Now, with the revision, if a person buys a 2014 policy by March 31 on the exchanges, they will not be subject to the tax penalty. However, this only applies to people who buy policies on the exchanges. If a person is uninsured until March 31 and buys a policy not on the exchanges on or before March 31, but which takes effect after March 31, that person is still liable for the tax penalty.</p>
<p>Basically, they’re regularizing when the exchange closes, and the tax penalty. And this is only relevant for 2014, because after 2014 the open enrollment on the exchanges ends Dec. 31.</p>
<p>
No, of course not. If you were to adopt a kid next year, then if you added him to your policy you would have to buy the dental insurance for the kid. But you are not required to have all family members on the same policy.</p>
<p>
Well that seems like overkill to me on the password setting, but it makes no sense to use cookies to track passwords, because anything stored in a cookie is insecure. But cookies can be use to “preserve state” – that is, essentially to recognize you as being “logged in” when you return to the site, and it may be that there is some sort of conflict with that status and the confirmation link you were provided.</p>
<p>GP, re your post 1951 – yes, that’s right. As long as one person in the group was enrolled in the plan prior to March 23, then any other person can come into that plan, subject to whatever enrollment rules and time frames apply to the group.</p>
<p>I just want to step in with a reminder. As confusing as this is in some cases, if we find we have chosen the wrong plan this year, we can choose another plan next year. Under the old system, if you had pre-existing conditions and you chose wrong, you were locked in forever. Under ACA, this is not a lifetime decision. It’s a one-year decision.</p>
<p>Thanks Calmom; that’s my interpretation, too.</p>
<p>Aren’t they starting to talk about delaying the whole thing, now? That’s what I’m hearing on the news.</p>
<p>I think “extension” would be a better word than “delay.” The plans are going to be available on schedule (January 1) and there will be a way to sign up – but if the exchange web sites are still buggy in the months to come, then I think they will probably extend the open enrollment period and delay implementation of the tax penalty accordingly.</p>
<p>I sure hope we won’t be penalized for not having pediatric dental coverage. Not only dont we have kids, but DH is a dentist. We’ve never had dental insurance.</p>