If you or someone you care about does not have health care, it’s not too late to sign up for affordable coverage. But you’ll want to act today. The deadline to get insurance is March 31. After that, you’ll have to wait until November.
Many of the people I’ve met told me they were surprised at how affordable marketplace insurance can be. An Atlanta family of four earning $50,000 a year can get covered for as little as $138 per month. A 27-year-old earning $25,000 can get covered for as little as $105 per month.
You can sign up 24 hours a day, seven days a week at HealthCare.gov or at 1-800-318-2596. You can even get in-person help in your community: Just visit localhelp.healthcare.gov and enter your zip code. If you speak Spanish, you can access our Spanish language website at CuidadoDeSalud.gov and you can get in-person help, too.
Jay and Clare Schexnyder live here in Georgia. Jay lost his job a couple years ago. The Schexnyders were particularly concerned because they both have pre-existing medical conditions. Thanks to a severance package and COBRA, they were able to stay covered through 2013. But the clock was ticking, and their premiums were expensive.
You can imagine their relief when they found a plan at HealthCare.gov that cost less than half what they had been paying each month.
Before the Affordable Care Act, hardworking Atlanta families had few real options. Even if you worked hard and took responsibility, you could still have the rug pulled out from under you if you or someone in your family got sick, had an accident or experienced another hardship. You could pay your premium dutifully every month, only to have your insurer refuse to pay for care.
But today, in Atlanta, it truly is a new day. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, there is choice and competition. In fact, you can now choose from 64 qualified health plans.
Once you enroll, nobody can take your coverage away from you just because you get sick. Your insurance company can’t charge you more just because you are a woman; being a woman is no longer a pre-existing condition.
What’s more, by law, insurance companies now have to cover health services like doctor’s visits, prescription drugs, ambulatory care and hospital stays. Preventive care like cancer and cholesterol screenings are covered with no additional money out of your pocket.
But if you don’t enroll by March 31, you won’t get this security that comes with a Marketplace plan – and you can’t enroll again until this fall.
The good news is that security for you and your family is only a click or call away. You just need to sign up by March 31.
Kathleen Sebelius is secretary of Health and Human Services.
