WA open enrollment: What to prepare for this year

Washington's open enrollment officially underway on Washington Health Plan Finder, with its recent shifts in federal healthcare subsidies and rising living costs. Well, finding affordable coverage can feel really overwhelming. Joining us now, we have Manny Santiago, Chief of Equity and Community Partnerships at the Washington Health Benefit Exchange to help break this down for us. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me, And thank you for letting Washingtonians what they can do to access healthcare this year. Yeah, absolutely. And the information is out there, but as we mentioned, it can be very overwhelming to parse through that and you're here to help. November 1st marks open enrollment for 2025 health and dental plans. And I understand there are quite a few changes coming up. What are the most important ones you want people to know about? Absolutely. Thank you, Maria. So it's very important for Washingtonians to understand, first of all, that the exchange is available to all Washingtonians regardless of immigration status so you can come and shop and explore there are some changes that are coming as you mentioned as a result of HR 1 implementation some of those changes are the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits some there are some changes to Medicaid Apple Health as well as the qualifying health market market, or qualifying health plans, which is the open market. So the changes are very, very different. It depends on the person, it depends on the family. So there are certain immigrants that are no longer going to qualify for certain subsidies. So there are many, many changes coming, as you mentioned. And the most important thing for Washingtonians to understand is that we cannot tell you what the changes are until you come into the exchange, into Washington Health Plan Finder, explore the options. And then we can assess your family situation, your income, where you live, and then determine what the changes are that are going to impact your healthcare plans. Right, and that is the toughest part, isn't it? Because you wanna talk to a friend about what did you do, but it's so individualized. And as we're talking about this, I mean, I know I keep mentioning it, but it is overwhelming. And that sometimes makes people wanna like wash their hands of any active participation in something. They don't shop around assuming that it's just gonna be impossible for them. But talk to me about the fact that there really are options available for people. Yes, absolutely. So it's very important for people to know that you're not alone. As you mentioned, it's very complex, it's sometimes overwhelming. However, the platform is designed for the shopper to actually see the plans, to see what the options are. We know that there are increases in premium. However, we have an excellent policy department here at the exchange that worked really hard to ensure that we could apply different policies for the benefit of Washingtonians. So even though there are increases to the premium, the truth is that we can only determine how much you're going to pay based on your, well, the composition of family, your income and things like that. So the only way to know is by coming to the Healthplan Finder and explore your options. Now it's very important for people to understand that Washington has different premium credits or tax credits that you can apply to those premiums. Cash care savings are here for Washingtonians. So even though the federal subsidies have changed, that doesn't mean that you don't qualify for health tax credits, right? It means that it might be less. It might be less money this year. However, both the federal government and the state government have different programs that different people are going to be able to explore. And then the other thing is that, as I said, you're not alone in Washington to make the selection. You can use the platform by yourself. It's designed that way. However, we have an excellent network of close to 2,000 assisters and navigators throughout the state. We have 10 physical enrollment centers throughout the state where you can physically go and work with a broker or a navigator to find the best plans for you. and we have over 3,000 brokers, health insurance brokers throughout the state that can help you identify the best plans for you. So you're not alone. The platform is designed for you to navigate it by yourself so it's easy to navigate, but we also have a huge, very strong network of supporters throughout the state that can help Washingtonians to access the best plans for them. Man, that is so many options. Thank you so much for breaking that down for us today. Absolutely.