Day 2 - Picking a Plan

I have an account  on Health.Gov...   great!

I have narrowed my choices of plans down to 3 potential ones (out of 12 choices available) for North Carolina.   These plans are administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC - a giant.

I log in to my account.  I see there is a message for me.  How do I read it? 

Oh well.

Moving on.   I'm comparing 3 plans using the "compare" function on the healthcare.gov site.  Here's what I'm looking at.    But first - here's the general info from the site:   The higher the premium, the better the coverage.  With that in mind... Take a look:  (Don't worry about the premium...it's before tax credit)

 Tell me why that in the 3rd plan - the highest premium also has the highest out of pocket amount and a higher deductible than the 2nd, less expensive plan?  

I called Health Care Market place 800-318-2596.  After a 10 minute wait I got a person and started explaining my questions.  Three minutes into my talking...boom...I heard music  and then was asked to take a survey...How we'd do?   Hummmmm... Not so good.

I called back and this time got a lady from Florida.  She could not explain it and advise me to call Blue Cross.

I tried Blue Cross's 800 number but goes to a voice response unit and you have no options to get through to a person unless you have an account already or know someone's name.    Finally I called a local agent of Blue Cross... and they too could not explain it... he said it was typical though. 

Bottom line.... don't compare.  Just pick something.   Nothing is logical.  

I think I'm going for Plan 2.  

Let's see... I score the process about a D- so far.

Day 1 - Signing Up

Logged on to the internet using Internet Explorer.   I was able to enter my name and then got a message that the site was very busy to wait or I could send an email to the site and they'd let me know when the site could handle my call.

Sitting there thinking about my 2 choices and BOOM.  

 Not such a good start.   Tried a few more times with the same results.  

Later that day - switched to Firefox and

Success!

Your account has been created.
With this account, you can use the Health Insurance Marketplace to find health coverage that fits your budget and meets your needs.

Now to answer questions and see the plans available. 

With exercising patience I was finally presented with various options and plans to pick.  

Stay tuned.