The first ‘Obamacare’ Open Enrollment Period (OEP) was six years ago; October 1st thru December 15th, for a 1-1-2014 effective date.

For individuals who don’t get health insurance through an employer, that was the first opportunity to buy coverage without regard to pre-existing conditions.

A much shorter OEP begins Thursday November 1st and ends December 15^th again, for a 1/1/2019 effective date.

The technology glitches of that first OEP are gone. So are the huge premium increases of the last two years; rates for 2019 are on average about 7% lower than last year.

Can you believe it?!

The website for the Office of the Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner has an interactive map that shows which health insurers are offering coverage, county by county. You can access that here. Note many of the plans being offered are HMO’s, so the provider network is important.

And that’s just one of many considerations you’ll need to navigate.

Remember; premiums on and off the HealthCare.gov marketplace are the same, whether or not you use an agent.

Why go it alone?

P.S. We pioneered the idea of convenient retail locations where you can ‘shop’ for health insurance. Dawn Devlin in Mequon is ready to help.