Sep 13 2013
The Associated Press reports that applying for coverage in new online insurance marketplaces will feel like a combination of doing your taxes and making a big purchase. Other media outlets describe how insurers are opening stores to pitch directly to consumers, while a few companies are creating look-alike exchange websites -- some of which may be scams.
The Associated Press: Applying For Health Insurance? Homework Involved
Getting covered through President Barack Obama's health care law might feel like a combination of doing your taxes and making a big purchase that requires research. You'll need accurate income information for your household, plus some understanding of how health insurance works, so you can get the financial assistance you qualify for and pick a health plan that's right for your needs (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/11).
USA Today: Health Insurance Sales Hit The Mall -- And Web
Call it the retailization of health insurance. Shopping center owners may not be courting them as they would Apple or trendy fashion brands, but health insurers are increasingly opening stores alongside far sexier retail tenants. With few people buying health insurance on their own, insurers have long focused on retaining and attracting the companies that offer it to their employees. Now, however, the new health law known as the Affordable Care Act means most uninsured Americans are required to have insurance beginning March 31 or pay a penalty at tax time in 2015 (O'Donnell, 9/12).
Kaiser Health News: Consumer, State Officials Warn Buyers To Be On The Lookout For Fake, Look-Alike Exchanges
As states are setting up their online health insurance marketplaces, officials are watching for look-alike websites that can lead consumers to be the victims of fraud or simply, confusion (Miller, 9/12).
Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reports on how Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is attempting to sell the law to the nation's governors --
Bloomberg: Sebelius Bargains With Governors To Shore Up Health Law
Kathleen Sebelius quietly charmed one governor's business-executive dinner guests in Colorado and publicly berated another for his Medicaid stance in Pennsylvania. She surprised a Republican governor in Utah with her flexibility and disappointed a Democratic one in West Virginia with her lack of timely answers. Sebelius, the 65-year-old Health and Human Services secretary, has had to get creative with the task of selling President Barack Obama's health-care law to an often skeptical - - sometimes hostile -- group of governors (Davis, 9/12).
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 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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