If you breathed a sigh of relief earlier this month when you heard that companies and individuals who are required to go on the state’s health care exchange had been granted an extension, think again.
Though the Shumlin administration has allowed small businesses and individuals to extend their existing health insurance coverage for 90 days, the deadlines for making a decision about what to do hasn’t changed.
Nov. 25 is the deadline for the state’s businesses with 50 or fewer employees; the deadline for individuals, including employees and individuals, is Dec. 15.
Businesses have just five days to figure out whether they will drop their employees from insurance coverage, buy a plan directly from their insurer, opt for a 90 day extension of current benefits for employees or use the Vermont Health Connect website to select insurance.
Insurance companies sent a letter out last week to businesses listing the aforementioned options.
After Nov. 25, insurers say there is no guarantee they will take direct enrollment applications from businesses, and because the Vermont Health Connect website is not yet fully functional, businesses are worried that direct enrollment may be the only way to ensure their employees are covered after Jan. 1.
If companies don’t decide by Nov. 25, their insurer will choose a plan for them that is similar to the one they have now.
According to an estimate from Sen. Patrick Leahy’s office, 95 percent or roughly 19,950 businesses in Vermont have 50 or fewer employees.
Vermont Health Connect has signed up 1,100 businesses, according to Emily Yahr, communications director for the exchange.
It is not known how many companies have enrolled in exchange plans directly through their insurers. Businesses that opt to buy directly do not have to use the Vermont Health Connect website, and instead can enroll with MVP or Blue Cross Blue Shield like they always have — this time choosing from plans that are approved through the exchange.
But to the bitter end, navigators — the people charged with helping Vermonters get on the exchange — are having difficulty signing up individuals and businesses through the Vermont Health Connect website.
That’s because even with With the Nov. 25 deadline looming, Vermont Health Connect is still experiencing problems. Until last week, for example, employees who registered could not accept their employers’ contribution level amounts through the website.
Yahr says that problem has been resolved.
“Some navigators and businesses that entered employer applications before the issue was resolved were still encountering the issue with those initial applications,” Yahr said. “In response, our customer support staff has been resolving each of those cases either in coordination directly with the business or with the Navigator representing the business.”
The assistance hotline? (855)499-9800.
Betsy Bishop, president of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber — which is one of the state’s designated navigators — chose direct enrollment with BlueCross Blue Shield because she didn’t want her employees to go on the exchange and find they couldn’t sign up and ultimately take the chance they could without insurance.
Paper applications for the exchange are stacking up, and Bishop worries about how quickly these applications will be processed by the state. And there is still no way for businesses or individuals to pay for health insurance on the Vermont Health Connect website.
“I am very concerned about the small businesses and the people who work for them and ensuring they have insurance,” Bishop said. “Health care reform is supposed to bring down costs for people and provide greater access. If we don’t achieve those two goals, we’ve not achieved what we set out to do.”
There are also problems endemic to the sign up form on the Vermont Health Connect site.
Peter Sterling, another navigator, says the most common mistakes applicants make can make them appear to be ineligible for a subsidy.
Sterling works with employees and individuals who are trying to sign onto the exchange.
He says the website asks if applicants have insurance now, if applicants answer yes they are booted out of the system. Sterling says the question should ask applicants if they will have insurance on Jan. 1, 2014.
It also asks for monthly income. Most people automatically plug in their annual income.
Lastly, many Vermonters have fluctuating incomes and don’t know year to year how much they’ll make. Sterling says it’s best if people enter what they think their incomes will be in 2014.
Another thing that is daunting for people is that it takes several steps to ascertain the subsidy level. Initially for many Vermonters it appears that they aren’t eligible for a subsidy, at which point they often give up, Sterling said.
When he talks them through it, and they often find out they are eligible, Sterling said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5:23 a.m. Nov. 20.
