No matter what happens Tuesday when the Affordable Care
Act’s health insurance exchanges go live, experts say it will be too early to
call the marketplaces a failure or success.
“October 1 is much ado about
nothing,” says Larry Kocot, visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Some
may not want to write a check [in October] so they may wait. The real crunch
time happens toward the end of the enrollment period, prior to benefits
starting.”
Tuesday kicks off open enrollment season on the
health-insurance marketplaces which runs through March 31, 2014. Uninsured
Americans, along with those looking for different coverage options, can start
shopping on the state and federally-run exchanges for a policy, but any
purchased plans won’t kick in until Jan. 1 - a major reason why enrollment
numbers likely won’t be impressive early on in the launch, says Kocot.
He
says December will likely be the month to watch regarding health-care
enrollment. Under the ACA, every individual in the U.S. has to have insurance by
March 31, 2014, or face a penalty of $95 a year, or 1% of their annual income -
whichever is higher.
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