Obamacare open enrollment begins Tuesday with focus on Miami

Exchange officials, though, stress that one company can offer myriad different plans – meaning rural shoppers still have some choices to make.

Estimated monthly premiums range from $453 per month to $469 a month.

That site includes resources for enrollment help, a calendar of enrollment events and an overview of facts and other information about health insurance, the Marketplace and the Affordable Care Act.

The bad: Obamacare patrons like Zhang himself, who earns too much to receive a subsidy, will lay out more cash for coverage next year as premiums rise.

Consumers shopping on the exchange can choose from a range of qualified plans sold on different “metal” tiers with different price points, as well as the low-priced, no-frills Essential plan or Medicaid if they qualify based on income.

“To be honest, there really aren’t a lot of options”, Zhang said.

In Miami-Dade and Broward counties, where almost 650,000 people signed up for an ACA plan in 2016 – more than any other metropolitan area in the nation – consumers will have fewer choices of insurers but an equal or greater number of health plans for 2017 than the current year.

In Oregon, there also will be an increase in costs, with three companies offering at least one plan for Malheur County, according to the HealthCare.gov website, which states that all counties will have at least two companies offering insurance plans.

The subsidies limit what an individual or a family must pay for the second-lowest-cost health plan in a market to a percentage of household income.

As prices go up, more people are eligible for subsidies, so it’s worth checking online at Healthcare.gov even if you think you are ineligible.

Health insurance marketplaces, also called health exchanges, were set up in each state in 2013 under the Affordable Care Act. Brown says the prices increases are offset by an increase in the tax credits so families usually pay close to the same amount out of pocket.

Healthcare insurers want healthier customers to sign up to reduce the costs of less-healthy customers.

Jha favors more generous subsidies to help people afford insurance instead of increasing the tax penalties for not buying it.

Although the short-term plans don’t meet all ACA requirements, many of them offer the benefit of unrestricted access to health-care providers, while many ACA plans have more restricted provider networks, he said.

“High customer satisfaction results in increased member loyalty and trust, and our survey shows that health plans have an enormous opportunity to cement themselves as trusted advisors with their members via effective communication”, Krupa said.

But health insurance alone doesn’t make people healthy, because so much of what determines our health happens outside a doctor’s office. Open enrollment ends January 31.

Entering 2017, however, shoppers in this state will see fewer options than in previous years.

“We are down to one insurance company”, said Randy Gaerke of Mercer County. The double digit number of carriers helped control rates.

“This is based on the rates that we know Moda filed for its 2016 plans”, Coon said in an email Friday. Many brokers offer plans both on and off the exchange, but subsidies are available only for purchases on Healthcare.gov. They add that consumers who are willing to switch to cheaper plans will still be able to find bargains.

As far as “bending the cost curve” is concerned … well … according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, cited by US News & World Report, average premiums rose by 7.5% past year and will rise by 25% in 2017. The law also provides new protections, including allowing children to stay on their parents’ plans through age 26 and providing cost-free preventive care.

Still, that’s a longshot in a state like Florida where repeated efforts to use federal money to expand Medicaid to more low and mid-income people have been shot down.

But Alaskans who must move from Moda Health to Premera in 2017 will see two-digit rate increases from what they had been paying – anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent, depending on their level of coverage, said Melanie Coon, Premera spokeswoman.