ACA healthcare signup help needed in Massachusetts

[RobinM556232]

Hi. I'm 61 and newly divorced. I'm about to get kicked off my ex-husband's healthcare plan and I'm overwhelmed with trying to figure out ACA. The free state help offices are booked past the date I need to start. Where can I go for help? Thanks.

[AARPConsumerCare]

Hi @RobinM556232, thank you for reaching out. We would recommend you to reach out to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace directly at: 1-800-318-2596, their representatives are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (except holidays). For more information, please check our article: https://aarp.info/3q4Y5fb - Diana G.

[TRL1111]

And I'll add that signing up for Medicare is vastly more complicated (lots of decisions have to be made) than signing up for an ACA plan, so do NOT wait until the last minute for that.

[TRL1111]

It's not clear how much help you need.  Do you not understand anything about ACA?  Or are you just trying to select a plan (including determining if you're eligible for a subsidy to lower your premium)?

I won't go into all of it, and I've been out of ACA for a couple of years now, and was never in Massachusetts, but one "gotcha" is that there are two "savings" that can happen based on your income:  (1) a subsidy that will lower your monthly premium, and (2) cost-sharing reductions that will lower a plan's deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, etc.  The "gotcha" is that the CSRs are available ONLY with silver plans.  So even though a bronze plan may be cheaper than a silver plan, if you're in a certain income bracket, the silver plan could have a much lower deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, so it might be a good choice.

When I did my shopping, if I entered my zip code and age and income and all that, the federal exchange (my state didn't have its own) would show the premium I'd be paying as well as any cost-sharing reductions available for the silver plans listed.  And in fact, the CSRs may not be labeled as such, but will be noticeable because, for example, a bronze plan could have a deductible of $5,000 while a similarly priced silver plan could have a deductible of $1,000.

Here's Massachusetts's ACA exchange:

mahealthconnector.org/ 

In particular, they have a page of links for resources:

mahealthconnector.org/learn/tools-resources/individuals-families 

They have a phone number you can call for help, although I don't think that's a great way to shop for plans.  I always did all my research myself on the Exchange website, but still had to call to apply because the website would never confirm my identity. 

When I called, they'd start talking about various options, like asking what deductible I was interested in, and I got the feeling the phone person and I were going to discuss all the various deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, and network providers--all of which is much more easily done by just the person online (if they're capable), using the comparison tools they have available.