Enrollment for ACA healthcare coverage ends this Saturday
If you have health coverage under the Affordable Care Act and want to keep it next year, you have to sign up by Saturday.
Not only is time running out, but the Affordable Care Act has not been afforded the support of the federal government in this administration as with the past. Because of that, the numbers signing up for coverage are down.
Gerald Murphy is signing up for the insurance coverage he needs through the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, before it's too late.
“People only have until this Saturday at 11 o’clock at night to sign up for the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare coverage for next year,” explained Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins.
While many are signing up, the numbers enrolling this year are down locally and nationally about eleven percent.
“Some think Obamacare is over and it has been repealed, but that is not true. “It’s still active and still available,” said Bart Ensley with Parkland Hospital. “There are a lot of plans out there that are affordable.”
But because it is no longer mandated by the federal government, some may not be enrolling.
“The fear of that is that the healthy people would not get insurance,” Jenkins said. “But that is just such a mistake because one mishap or one illness will cost you multiples of what insurance will cost.”
At Parkland, counselors called navigators go through the healthcare.gov website with you.
“The process was great. It was smooth,” Murphy said. “She was very good at explaining everything that I needed to know about this new plan.”
“You can get a great health plan for less than $75 a month,” Jenkins said. “That’s less than you’re paying for cable television or your cell phone.”
“I’m really looking forward to having the coverage that’s been provided by Obamacare, and it's affordable,” Murphy said.
Even though coverage from last year goes to January, the cut-off to sign up is Saturday, December 15.
You can go through the website yourself or go to Parkland and let their navigators help you.