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What’s new and what to watch for in the upcoming ACA open enrollment period
It’s that time of year again: In most states, the Affordable Care Act‘s annual open enrollment season for health plans begins Nov. 1 and lasts through Jan. 15.
Current enrollees who do not update their information or select an alternative will be automatically reenrolled in their current plan or, if that plan is no longer available, into a plan with similar coverage.
Last year marked a record enrollment of about 21 million people. This time around, consumers will find a few things have changed.
Don’t fall for advertising scams
While some health plans offer small-dollar gift cards or other incentives to encourage participation in wellness efforts, they would not offer cash cards worth thousands of dollars a month to help with groceries, gas or rent. Even so, social media and online sites are rife with such promises.
Such ads are among the avenues allegedly used by unscrupulous brokers who enroll or switch plans without the express permission of consumers, according to a lawsuit filed in Florida.
Also, be cautious about the websites you use to search for coverage.
Type “Obamacare” or “cheap health insurance” into a search engine and often what pops up first are sponsored private sector websites unaffiliated with the official state or federal government marketplaces for ACA coverage.
While they may try to look official, they are not. Many such sites offer various options, including non-ACA coverage with limited benefits, a “secret shopper” study found in 2023. Such non-ACA coverage would not qualify for federal subsidies to help consumers pay premiums.
The fine print on some websites says that consumers who provide personal information automatically consent to be contacted by sales agents via phone calls, emails, text messages or automated systems with prerecorded messages.
When exploring plans, always start with the official federal marketplace’s website, healthcare.gov.
Even if you don’t live in one of the 29 states served by the federal marketplace, its website provides the link to your official enrollment site when you select your state, or the District of Columbia, from a drop-down list. The federal and state marketplaces also have call centers and other ways to get enrollment assistance. The “find local help” link on healthcare.gov, for example, gives consumers a choice of finding assisters or sales agents near them.
Is it real insurance?
Another concern: Regulators are seeing an increase in complaints from consumers about offers of health coverage requiring consumers to join a limited liability corporation, or otherwise attest they are working for a specific company. Indeed, at least two states — Maryland and Maine — have issued warnings, saying that instead of comprehensive ACA coverage, these are often non-ACA products, amounting to a hodgepodge of discount cards, for example, or limited-indemnity plans. This type of plan pays a flat-dollar amount — say, $50 for a doctor visit or $1,000 for a hospital stay — and is meant to buttress more comprehensive coverage, not replace it.
“Unlike major medical plans, some of these self-funded plans only cover preventive services such as a yearly check-up or annual health screening,” the warning from the Maine Bureau of Insurance says.
Premiums might be higher — and other new things
Some insurers will lower premium rates for 2025, but many others are increasing them.
Although final numbers are still being crunched, experts estimate a median increase of 7% for premiums, according to an analysis by KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. Most people who buy ACA coverage are eligible for a subsidy to help with the premiums, which is likely to offset much of the increase, although the higher cost means the government will be paying out more for those subsidies.
Rising health costs — including for hospital care and the new class of weight loss drugs — are contributing to the increase.
Some other changes this open season:
- People often referred to as “Dreamers” because they qualified for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — a federal program offering some protection to those brought to the country as children without proper immigration documentation — can now enroll in ACA coverage and are eligible for subsidies.
- Short-term plans, which are technically not ACA coverage and not subject to its benefit rules and preexisting benefit protections, can be issued for, at most, only four months of coverage, based on a Biden administration action that took effect with plans starting Sept. 1. It walks back a Trump administration rule that loosened requirements to allow insurers to offer coverage that ranged up to 364 days, and allowed insurers the option of renewing the policies for up to two additional years. Existing plans and those issued before Sept. 1 don’t fall under the new rules. But consumers who relied on the longer periods need to check their plans’ details and consider enrolling in an ACA plan instead to avoid a situation in which their short-term plan expires early or midyear, potentially leaving them unable to get coverage elsewhere for the remainder of the year.
The sign-up process might take longer, too
Federal regulators this year wrestled with a growing number of complaints — 200,000 in the first six months alone — from consumers who were being enrolled into or switched from ACA plans without their express permission by agents seeking to gain commissions.
To thwart such efforts, they put new rules in place.
What does that mean for most consumers? If you are working with a new agent — one who wasn’t already listed on your ACA plan — you will likely need to get on a three-way call with the federal marketplace to confirm that you are, indeed, authorizing that agent to make changes to your policy for the coming year. Plan on this taking additional time. No one knows how busy the call lines will get during open enrollment.
You don’t need to use a broker to enroll. But sorting through the dozens of options on the marketplace is challenging, so most people do seek assistance. Consumers need to weigh not only the monthly premium cost, but also variations in deductibles and copayments for such things as doctor visits, hospitalization, and drugs.
Shop around
Experts say another consideration when choosing a plan is to check whether its network includes the doctors and hospitals you typically see, as well as whether its formulary covers your prescription medications, and how much it charges for them.
To help with making comparisons, rules kicked in two years ago requiring insurers to include some “standardized plans” as options, which must all have the same deductibles, and costs for such things as doctor visits, emergency room care, and other consumer cost sharing.
Even so, many people have dozens of options available, which can be daunting.
But one piece of advice remains constant: Whether you are enrolling for the first time or have an existing plan, it’s always worth it to shop around. Even if you don’t change plans, you can make sure the one you have is still your best option.
In most states, consumers must enroll by Dec. 15 to get coverage that begins Jan. 1. Heads up in Idaho, where open enrollment starts earlier — Oct. 15 — but also ends sooner, closing on Dec. 15. In California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia, residents can enroll through Jan. 31.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.
Hurricane Kirk strengthened Wednesday into a Category 3 storm in the Atlantic Ocean and was expected to grow rapidly into a major hurricane, forecasters said.
There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect, and the storm system was not yet deemed a threat to land. But forecaster warned Thursday that “large swells” could reach the U.S. East Coast by Sunday.
Kirk reached Category 3 status on Wednesday, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The storm was about 1,150 miles east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph.
It was moving northwest at 12 mph. A gradual turn toward the north-northwest and then northward was expected this week.
/ AP
Swells generated by the storm could affect portions of the Leeward Islands and Bermuda by the weekend, likely causing “life-threatening” surf and rip current conditions, the center said.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Leslie formed late Wednesday in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and could strengthen into a hurricane by the weekend, forecasters said.
There were no coastal watches or warnings in effect, and the storm system was not yet deemed a threat to land.
The storm was located 490 miles southwest of the southernmost tip of the Cabo Verde Islands and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, the hurricane center said.
The storms formed as many people in the U.S. Southeast still lacked running water, cellphone service and electricity as rescuers searched for people unaccounted for after Hurricane Helene struck last week and left a trail of death and catastrophic damage.
More than 180 people died in one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history. At least 186 people were confirmed dead across multiple states as of Thursday morning, according to a tally by CBS News.
President Biden traveled to the Carolinas on Wednesday for an aerial tour of the widespread damage caused by the storm. Vice President Kamala Harris was in Georgia receiving updates on the emergency response to the storm’s devastation there.
CBS News
Gunmen kill 5 at drug rehab center in Mexico, escape by using metal spikes to puncture tires of security forces
Armed assailants attacked a drug rehabilitation center in Mexico, killing four people and wounding five others, local authorities said Wednesday.
The attack took place in Salamanca in the central state of Guanajuato on Tuesday night, the municipal government said in a statement.
Police and the National Guard “initiated a chase to find those responsible,” but the attackers escaped by throwing down metal spikes to puncture the tires of security forces in pursuit, it said.
Police said three bodies of those killed were found inside the rehab center while a fourth was found in the street.
MARIO ARMAS/AFP via Getty Images
No suspects have been arrested yet.
Disputes between drug gangs have led to rehab centers being targeted in several attacks in Mexico.
Authorities say some rehab centers are used as safe havens by suspected members of criminal groups, who are attacked by their rivals when found.
In July 2022, six people were shot dead at a drug rehab center near the western Mexican city of Guadalajara. Two years before that, heavily armed men stormed a drug rehab center in the central city of Irapuato and killed 27 people.
Guanajuato is Mexico’s most violent state, according to official homicide statistics, due to fighting between the local Santa Rosa de Lima cartel and the powerful Jalisco New Generation. Last month, the U.S. sanctioned a man known as “The Tank” for allegedly leading the Jalisco cartel’s fuel theft arm, supplying it with tens of millions of dollars a year by selling stolen gasoline through a network of seemingly legitimate businesses.
Mexico has recorded more than 450,000 murders since December 2006, when a controversial military anti-drug operation was launched.
The violence continued after Claudia Sheinbaum took office Tuesday as Mexico’s first female president in the nation’s more than 200 years of independence.
CBS News
Dozens killed in new Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and Gaza as some nations ramp-up Lebanon evacuation plans
At least seven health and rescue workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in Beirut overnight, an Islamic health organization said Thursday, as Israel’s battle against the Iran-backed groups Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza raged, fueling concern of a wider regional conflict. The strike in Beirut’s residential Bashoura district hit a multi-story apartment building that houses an office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated with Hezbollah.
It was the second airstrike to hit central Beirut this week, and the second to hit the Health Society in 24 hours. The Associated Press said no Israeli warning was issued to the area before the strike. Residents reported a sulfur-like smell, and Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency accused Israel of using phosphorous bombs in the strike, which are prohibited by international law for use near civilian populations.
Human rights groups have in the past accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on towns and villages in conflict-hit southern Lebanon.
Mohamed Azakir/REUTERS
The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement Wednesday night saying it had “conducted a precise strike in Beirut,” but there was no further information about the attack. It came amid intense bombing by Israel across southern Lebanon.
NOTE: This article includes images of wounded children that may disturb some readers.
CBS News’ Haley Ott reported that Lebanese health officials said 46 people were killed and 85 injured by Israeli strikes in the country in the 24 hours up to Thursday morning.
The Ministry of Health says Israel’s ongoing strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million from their homes over the last two weeks alone. The IDF issued new evacuation orders Thursday for 25 towns and villages in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of communities from which residents have been told to flee this week, since Israeli ground operations began in the area, to 77.
The Israeli Air Force said in a statement Thursday that “approximately 15 Hezbollah terrorists were eliminated” in a strike on a local government building in Bing Jbeil, southern Lebanon, which the IAF said was being used by the militant group.
Israel announced Monday that it was launching ground incursions into southern Lebanon, ramping up its fight against Hezbollah while continuing its devastating war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s air and ground operations in Gaza killed more than 50 people near the city of Khan Younis on Wednesday, including children, according to Palestinian health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.
The war in the densely packed Palestinian territory has killed more than 41,500 people since it was sparked almost a year ago by Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
Ramadan Abed/REUTERS
The fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon — a much larger, better armed group than Hamas — was described by the IDF on Wednesday as intense, as it confirmed eight soldiers had died in the operations.
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday to address the spiraling conflict in Middle East.
Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. said his country had launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday as a deterrent to further Israeli violence. His Israeli counterpart called the barrage an “unprecedented act of aggression.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday to retaliate against Iran, while an Iranian commander threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if Israel did so.
President Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. and its other partners were in discussions with Netanyahu’s government about Israel’s pending response to the Iranian attack, which Mr. Biden has stressed should be “in proportion” to Iran’s missile salvo, which was largely thwarted by the U.S. ally’s advanced missile defense systems.
Mr. Biden said he would not support an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in response to the missile attack, but that the U.S. and its global allies supported Israel’s right to respond.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier this week that Iran’s attack was “totally unacceptable, and the entire world should condemn it,” but that “Israel, with the active support of the United States and other partners, effectively defeated this attack.”
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the southern Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, which saw terrorists kill 1,200 Israelis and take 251 more as hostages into Gaza, according to the Israeli government. The fighting has increased dramatically over the last two weeks, since Israel was accused of blowing up thousands of Hezbollah members’ communications devices and assassinating the group’s senior leader in a targeted strike in Beirut.
Countries prepare for evacuations from Lebanon
The escalating bloodshed in Lebanon has prompted some governments to hastily prepare evacuation plans for their citizens from the country.
The British government has chartered more flights to help U.K. nationals leave Lebanon a day after an evacuation flight left Beirut. The government said in a statement that the flights would continue as “long as the security situation allows” and that it was working to increase capacity on commercial flights for British nationals.
Around 700 British troops, Foreign Office staff and Border Force officers have been deployed to a British military base in Cyprus to help with evacuation plans. British nationals and their spouses, partners and children under the age of 18 are eligible for the chartered evacuation flights.
Yui Mok/Getty
Japan on Thursday dispatched two Self Defense Force planes to prepare for a possible airlift of Japanese citizens from Lebanon, while Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government had booked 500 seats on commercial aircraft for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their families to leave Lebanon on Saturday.
Speaking Monday, Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder said while the U.S. State Department had issued no blanket evacuation order for Americans in Lebanon, the military always plans “for all contingencies.”
The State Department has had a “Do Not Travel” advisory in effect for Lebanon for more than a week, warning U.S. nationals not to visit the country and those already there to seek commercial travel options to get out. On Sept. 28, the advisory was updated with the family members of some State Department employees being ordered to leave Lebanon, while others were given the option to leave.
The State Department has restricted U.S. Embassy personnel in Beirut “from personal travel without advance permission,” and said further restrictions could be imposed “with little to no notice due to increased security issues or threats.”
“Due to the increased volatility following airstrikes within Beirut and the volatile and unpredictable security situation throughout Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon now while commercial options still remain available,” the advisory says, adding a warning that deteriorations in the security situation could make travel harder, and the “U.S. Embassy may not be able to assist U.S. citizens who choose to remain in Lebanon.”
Hurricane Kirk strengthens into Category 3 storm in the Atlantic, expected to grow rapidly
Gunmen kill 5 at drug rehab center in Mexico, escape by using metal spikes to puncture tires of security forces
Dozens killed in new Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and Gaza as some nations ramp-up Lebanon evacuation plans
Hurricane Kirk strengthens into Category 3 storm in the Atlantic, expected to grow rapidly
Gunmen kill 5 at drug rehab center in Mexico, escape by using metal spikes to puncture tires of security forces