PORTLAND, Maine - It's four days in to the new enrollment period for the online insurance marketplace, and advocates are encouraging those who need health coverage to apply. So far, enrollment appears to be going more smoothly than last year, which was plagued with technological issues. But there are new insurance products to consider this time around, and consumers have half the time to sign up. Advocates say both new and returning enrollees should fully explore their options - and soon.
Local and federal officials, as well as health advocates, squeezed into a very busy Becky's Diner in Portland Tuesday morning to officially kick off the new enrollment season.
Carla Garcia and her mother Basilia Iraheta were also there. "We're looking to enroll my mom with some health insurance," Garcia says.
Iraheta moved to Maine from Massachusetts last summer, and lost her employer-based insurance in the process. She has a lot of pain due to severe arthritis and has already gone to the ER once. She says she needs insurance so she can treat her health issues. "Oh, it's very important because I need health," she says.
Iraheta and Garcia walked out with business cards in hand of marketplace navigators who can help them at a future appointment. The idea of holding a press event at Becky's Diner, say organizers, was all about being in a place where people share stories. And regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Christie Hager, says she hopes those who enrolled in Maine last year will spread the word about their coverage.
"The more than 44,000 people who enrolled last year during open enrollment - almost 90 percent of them did so with financial assistance through the Marketplace," she says.
Some of those newly-insured were lobstermen. The president of the Maine Lobstermen's Association, David Cousens, says his three adult sons - also lobstermen - can finally afford health insurance, and he himself saw his premium and deductible go down.
"When you own your own business and you don't have health insurance, your whole livelihood is at risk," Cousens says. "So it's just a relief to know you can go to the doctor and not worry about it."
This year there are new options in Maine, with Harvard Pilgrim joining Marketplace alums Anthem and Maine Community Health Options. The executive director of Consumers for Affordable Health Care, Emily Brostek, says those re-enrolling should consider all plans and update their financial information to ensure they receive the correct subsidy.
"We have a much shorter time this time," she says, "so we want people to hit the ground running and get ready to renew their options, get coverage figured out by Dec. 15 so they can be covered on Jan. 1."
One Mainer who's happy to continue his marketplace insurance coverage is 27-year-old Michael Sajecki, a line cook at Becky's. Sajecki says when he signed up last year, he got better coverage than he expected, for less money.
"I've been without insurance for a while, and it's been in the back of my mind, if anything happened I'd have to pay for it outright," Sajecki says. "And I've had to do that in the past. So I've had a lot of medical bills, and basically I didn't want to have to accrue any more."
Sajecki says he tells people how easy it was to sign up for insurance, but he acknowledges that some of his peers plan to pay a penalty instead. Those penalties increase this year to $325, or 2 percent of income - whichever is higher.
Open enrollment for the insurance marketplace ends Feb. 15.
