With Obamacare’s open enrollment less than two weeks away, administration officials are touting a slew of new features to make signing up for healthcare easier.
But it is not clear when new tools to ensure that a plan includes a consumer’s doctor or covers his meds will be available.
Open enrollment starts Nov. 1, and healthcare.gov will be used by residents in 38 states to sign up or re-enroll in Obamacare health insurance coverage.
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New features available on Nov. 1 include a calculator to help enrollees estimate their out-of-pocket healthcare costs according to the plan they select. But the Obama administration couldn’t say specifically when two new search tools are going to be available.
The administration is testing doctor and prescription drug lookup features where a consumer can check to see if a plan includes his doctor and covers the prescription drugs he takes.
The tools directly address a criticism of Obamacare from opponents who say that consumers are finding out their plan doesn’t include their doctor in the network.
However, the tools are still in beta testing and officials couldn’t peg exactly when they are going to be released, only saying they are “coming soon.”
“We feel comfortable that we will have it ready soon,” said Lori Lodes, spokeswoman for healthcare.gov in a press conference Friday.
Lodes couldn’t say whether it would be ready for open enrollment or exactly when the tools would be rolled out during open enrollment.
The problem is that there is a lot of data that the administration has to validate and include into the tool.
“We have a little over half the data to be validated and we need that to be better,” Lordes said.
The administration is confident that it will get enough data into the tools, said Andy Slavitt, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees healthcare.gov.
Patients already can search for their doctors or prescription drugs, but a consumer has to click on a link to the specific plan and search on the insurer’s website.
For example, if you pick a certain plan from Aetna, you have to go to Aetna’s site to make sure your doctor is covered.
The idea of the tools is to make it easier for consumers to find that information, said Kevin Counihan, CEO of healthcare.gov.
“We are taking that plan information and aggregating it in a way to make it simpler,” he said.
When the tools are released, the administration will “tell enrollees that this is the first year and recommend they call the physician office and call the health plan just to make sure,” Counihan said.
The out-of-pocket calculator will be available when open enrollment starts next month. Healthcare.gov will go live the morning of Oct. 25 so consumers can start shopping for plans.
The calculator works by asking questions about consumers’ predicted medical costs throughout the year, such as how many times they visit the doctor and the amount of prescription drugs and lab tests are needed.
After factoring in the plan selected by the consumer, the calculator gives the consumer an estimated out-of-pocket cost for that specific plan.
The calculator can help “to really educate people on the plans they are picking,” Counihan said.
Counihan touted other new updates to the website, such as a more streamlined user experience that includes new screens that show whether a consumer is eligible for tax credits or Medicaid.
The Obama administration has set a modest goal for 2016 open enrollment, hoping to sign up or re-enroll 10 million people. That is about the same amount that has paid their premiums for Obamacare plans as of June.
Healthcare.gov was the subject of much criticism when the website rolled out in 2013, as it frequently crashed and made it difficult for consumers to sign up for it.
Slavitt said the administration has learned from its mistakes.
“The marketplace was a new experience, [and we] learned a lot from open enrollment,” he said. “As we enter year three, we continue to listen and learn.”
