Obamacare website tweaked as second enrollment period set to begin
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The Obama administration is re-booting HealthCare.gov. Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act begins next Saturday. However, there are plenty of skeptics on whether the Obamacare website can perform better than it did last year.
Over 357,000 North Carolinians signed up last year, the fifth highest number in the nation, but it wasn't easy as glitches plagued the system.
The White House is pledging to make Obamacare 2.0 a much smoother experience.
ABC11 went window shopping for plans with Nicole Dozier. She is co-director of the Health Access Coalition in Raleigh. The site does seem more user-friendly. There's certainly a lot less clicking to enroll.
"It was about 76 screens [last year] which was a lot of screens. Now, it's down to about 16 screens with fewer clicks, so I think that just saves time. Things seem more complex when they are longer," Dozier said.
You'll notice there's more choices this year. United Health Care joined the exchange competing with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Coventry.
Blue Cross is still the dominant carrier in the state. The company's ACA average premiums are up 13-percent compared to last year, jumping to $421.
However, most Obamacare enrollees won't pay that because 91-percent of enrollees in the state last year received federal subsidies. So they only pay 5-percent of their income.
Of course when it comes to Obamacare, it's not just the premiums, it's the politics.
"The Republicans, some of them say they want to repeal it," said Rep. David Price, 4th District. Price appeared Monday morning at an ACA event at the Durham County Health Building.
Price may not be worried about GOP opposition to the healthcare law, but a potential Supreme Court decision is more concerning. The high court will soon consider whether to invalidate federal subsidies to patients living in states like ours that refused to set up healthcare exchanges.
"We still need to hear from the Supreme Court and until we do, there is still some element of uncertainty. That shouldn't interfere with anyone signing up this year though," Price said.
It will be months before the Supreme Court decides. In the meantime, open enrollment on HealthCare.gov begins Nov. 15.
