Waiting for 2014 is a bit like being a child excitedly anticipating Christmas or Hanukkah. It just can’t get here quickly enough. Thinking about the concept of “no wrong door” and streamlined, paperless enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP certainly leaves me with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.
As we approach the holidays, our friends in Wisconsin have a little present for you and it means you don’t have wait until 2014 to get a sneak preview of an Exchange. Wisconsin has created an Exchange Prototype that simulates the consumer’s experience in obtaining affordable health insurance through a single web portal that integrates access to Medicaid and CHIP (called Badgercare+ in Wisconsin), along with the new Exchange insurance plans. I’ve heard Jim Jones, Wisconsin Deputy Medicaid Director, talk about this simulator but seeing is believing. The hardest part about maneuvering the website for me was figuring out if I wanted to be 27 and single again or 64 and retired. Hmmmmmm.
Now your first reaction might be that it’s too good to be true. And it’s a bit scary to see the kind of information about you that the state can access. How did they know who my kids are or where I worked? But let’s face it, the reality is they have that information anyway and now you get to see it and correct it if it’s wrong (sort of like your credit report). Ultimately, it means that these systems are expected to have real-time access to data so 1) you don’t have to enter data they already know and 2) your eligibility can be determined immediately. Now that’s something to be joyful about!
I will say that for someone who is not savvy about insurance, it still will be a bit difficult to understand some of the terminology. A high-deductible plan is a bronze plan, an HMO is a silver plan and a PPO is a gold plan. We’ll need to figure out better ways to explain these concepts. It would help if a little box would pop up asking if I need help or want to chat when I seem to be stuck on a page. And one can hope that when the Exchanges go live, we’ll see that.
The simulator allowed me to rank the importance of seven elements such as quality of care, low premiums and customer service to help identify plans that would match my needs. I was happy to see that I could pay through the Exchange (hopefully for my child in CHIP and my insurance together). I also got to choose my preferred choice of communications: mail, e-mail, or text. But a few things on my list were missing, like choosing to be contacted by phone or setting up automatic payments (although that might be in “manage my account,” a feature not yet enabled). And I was particularly pleased to be asked if I wanted my premium to be updated if my tax credit were to change. That might help avoid people being charged more than they should be or, worse, getting stuck with a tax bill because their credit should have been reduced.
All in all, this is a great start and I encourage others to treat themselves to a visit to the site. At the end, there is a survey asking for your feedback, which will help Wisconsin and other states make these websites even more useful. If you want to see and hear more, check out this webinar on the Wisconsin Exchange Prototype that State Coverage Initiatives is hosting on December 21.
