[V]ermonters who need health insurance can buy products through the state’s health care exchange through Jan. 31.
Tuesday marks the first day of open enrollment on the Vermont Health Connect website, where people can sign up for health insurance if they have no other options.
During open enrollment, Vermonters can choose to buy insurance or change their plan for any reason. During other times of the year, customers can make changes only under specific circumstances, like if they lose their job.
Vermont Health Connect offers Medicaid and Dr. Dynasaur, which are fully subsidized by the government, as well as commercial insurance. Customers may receive significant help paying for commercial insurance, depending on their income.
Sean Sheehan, the spokesperson for Vermont Health Connect, said customers calling about buying insurance should expect a better experience than over the summer, when wait times were long because of high call volumes.
Sheehan said that as of last week, over 80 percent of people who called Vermont Health Connect in October had their calls answered within 24 seconds, and only 3 percent of callers hung up before reaching a customer service representative.
Prices for Vermont Health Connect insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont are up an average of 7.3 percent over the 2016 prices. MVP HealthCare’s prices are up an average of 3.7 percent over 2016. However, most people using Vermont Health Connect will not see such dramatic increases.
The state said in a news release that the average single person using Vermont Health Connect makes $24,800 a year and can sign up for a plan that costs $109 a month. That plan would pay 77 percent of the out-of-pocket costs of medical services and prescriptions, the news release says.
In other years since the exchange plans became available in 2013, Gov. Peter Shumlin has held a news conference to advertise open enrollment. He has not scheduled a press event on the subject this week.
Sheehan said the state has communicated about open enrollment with insurance companies and in-person assisters.
If Vermonters do not have any health insurance in 2017 — such as through an employer, a family member, the military or Vermont Health Connect — they will be required to pay a roughly $700 fee when they pay their taxes in April.
Sheehan said many Vermonters can get substantial financial help to buy health insurance and will find it cheaper to buy a plan than to pay the fee.
The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 29,000 Vermonters do not have health insurance, but 11,000 could sign up for Medicaid and an additional 8,000 could get help from the government paying for commercial insurance.
