This week we’re taking a look at changes to Indiana's health care system under the Affordable Care Act. Now that the exchange is up and running, we’ll see what the process of signing up for an exchange plan is like.
Healthcare.gov is the place to be in Indiana if you’re looking for one of the new exchange plans. First you’ll go through the basics of creating an account – provide some basic info, pick a user name and password, and then you can start your marketplace application.
Abe Schwab is a medical ethicist and professor at IPFW – he says applicants will need a few things to get started.
He says “they’re going to need their social security number, and then they’re going to need income information: W-2, pay stub, something like that. And then they’re going to need their employer health insurance offering. That last step may be very easy, they don’t offer insurance, done.”
But if your employer does offer insurance, you’ll need to fill out another form describing what they offer.
At that point, the site identifies possible subsidies and you can go ahead and start looking for your plan.
There’s a calculator on healthcare.gov to help you figure out your savings, so you also need to know how much you can afford to spend on a plan to help you pick the right one.
Before starting the process it’s also good to have a list of questions ready for those who may assist you in your application, either online, over the phone, or in person.