Understanding health insurance open enrollment

The people are still facing troubles when it comes to health insurance and making the time to find an affordable, quality plan can be difficult. Healthcare.gov's open enrollment is happening now and of course helps people find a plan whether they're getting one for the first time or they need to replace one that they already have. So joining us this morning, CMS Regional Administrator Shannon Hills to talk about this process. Good morning. Appreciate your time. Good morning. Glad to be here. Yeah. Open enrollment is always daunting. It's always a stressful process. Let's start from the beginning and talk about how long the window is open for right now. We know it's underway. How much time do we have? Absolutely. Open enrollment on healthcare.gov started November 1st. So people who need health insurance have until December 15th to make changes to their current plan or to enroll in a new plan. Okay, so let's talk about the cost breakdown here. Are there differences in prices for plans this year? Is there financial aid available? What do folks need to know? Great question. Financial help is available to the vast majority of people who enroll at healthcare.gov. Four out of five customers can expect to find a plan for $10 or less per month. When people visit healthcare.gov, enter their information, they will be able to see the cost savings that may be available to them with financial help. So if you received coverage this last year, Shannon, why should you check again here this year? You know, why stay up to date and why check again? Every year, health insurance plan options can change. Maybe it's the cost, coverage, or the providers that are available and network. And it's also really important to remember that each year, our own healthcare needs can change. So it's really important to go online to healthcare.gov to review your current coverage, to shop for other plans that may be available in your area to make sure that you're making the right decisions to meet your healthcare needs in 2025. Yeah, and that is a big decision. It can have some pretty big implications for folks. You know, you never know when an emergency is going to happen and you're going to want that safety net. If people have more questions as they're shopping for plans, is there help available to sort through all this information? There is. On healthcare.gov, there is a button titled Find Local Help. That will enable people right there in your area to be connected with an assister that can sit down with them and review all of the plan options. They can also call the healthcare.gov call center at 1-800-318-2596. The call center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and representatives can communicate in over 200 languages. Awesome. Some great information, especially, of course, this time of year. Like I was saying at the beginning of this interview, it's stressful. It's stressful to look at open enrollment, so some great resources there. Shannon, really appreciate the time this morning. You're so welcome. Thank you again for having me. Yeah, take care. And again, for any other information, just head over to healthcare.gov.