By week’s end, the Maryland healthcare exchange known as the Maryland Health Connection succeeded in enrolling over 3,500 new persons. While the website still has its own set of glitches, this is a positive sign of major improvements!
The Maryland Health Connection is a down scale of the federal healthcare exchange market place on Heathcare.gov. It is where all uninsured persons in Maryland can visit to shop for insurance providers under the Affordable Care Act. Persons who are eligible for state programs such as Medicaid, which has expanded with insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, cannot enroll in both health programs. However, the Maryland Health Connection was just as plagued with technical glitches as the federal healthcare exchange market place at Healthcare.gov. That website was over-hauled last weekend and President Obama re-launched the website on Tuesday, December3. By the middle of the week, Healthcare.gov was able to successfully support over 3.5 million visitors on its website. This was a huge improvement with website performance and technicians continue to work out glitches.
The success of the Affordable Care Act is eminent. This is especially true considering that as the category of young adults who are uninsured, become insured under the mandatory Affordable Care Act Law, an ongoing success of affordable healthcare coverage for all persons and the economy will result. Once insured, these persons will have access to affordable and preventive healthcare, mental healthcare and any other essential services such as dental, ambulatory, and prescriptions. A healthy person is able to be a valuable asset to employers and providers for his/her family. More specifically, when young adults are healthier and stronger they contribute to the job industry economically as older adults retire. Young adults’ employment and careers have greater longevity in this regard. This great source of dollars generated will result in a strong state building a strong America for youth to then enter the job market to sustain that resource building economically when they become of age. Is your child attending college, but has no health insurance?
As Maryland follows suit continuing to remove technical glitches past, present, and future, enrollment will keep surging and meet the deadline for all persons to enroll by March 31,, 2014, without facing a penalty. Unfortunately, in identifying the many glitches that plagued the state health market place, the Maryland Health Connection, has experienced the unexpected resignation of the Director of the Maryland Health Connection, Rebecca Pearce. Maryland Lt. Governor Anthony Brown has accepted full responsibility for the failure of the website as well. He oversaw the state health program.
Lastly, it is imperative that enrollees in the federal and state healthcare programs begin to make their payments to their selected insurance providers as soon as possible. This is the only way to actually complete the application process and have insurance.
Meridith Cohen/Andrea Walker of the Baltimore Sun on 12/08/2013
What's happening in YOUR state with healthcare insurance enrollment?
Posted By: agnes levine
Sunday, December 8th 2013 at 11:10AM
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