Open enrollment for Obamacare began Saturday and consumers should expect fewer problems compared to last year’s disastrous rollout. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell says improvements have been made to the Healthcare.gov website and that should translate into a smoother healthcare shopping and enrolling process. President Obama’s Affordable Care Act allows those who don’t have health coverage through their employer to shop for insurance through the federal website or online state exchanges. Following last year’s rollout, hundreds of federal employees worked for months rebuilding Healthcare.gov after a debut filled with glitches. If you bought your healthcare plan from the federal website last year, you don’t have to re-enroll. However, officials encourage you to get back on the website and compare benefits and prices because some new plans are available and others have changed. Consumers will only have about half the time to enroll this year. The deadline is February 15th to select or change your healthcare plan. If you want coverage to begin on January 1st, you have until December 15th to make your selection. You can call the Cannon County Health Department at 563-4243 ext 121 and make an appointment with Sarah Jenkins who is the Outreach and Enrollment Specialist in Cannon County.
