Donald Trump’s election and incoming House and Senate Republican majorities have millions of people who buy their health insurance on the individual market — as well as many uninsured people poised to buy a plan there — concerned about what may happen to that coverage. But the marketplace plans and the subsidies to help modest-income people afford them are still available and will likely remain so for some time.
Open enrollment — the annual period when people can newly enroll in a plan or change plans for 2017 — extends through January 31. People who want their coverage to start January 1 must sign up by December 15.
Some good news came last Wednesday, when more than 100,000 people signed up for plans through the federally run marketplace — the largest influx of enrollees in a single day since enrollment started on November 1.
Other people may be unsure of what to do amid news of Republican plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the law that made the individual market more accessible for people with health conditions and provided subsidies to offset premiums and other cost-sharing charges to people who lack access to other coverage. It would be a mistake to miss the open enrollment deadline and lose the chance to get coverage. People should enroll now, so they can make sure they can obtain preventive benefits at no cost, get coverage of checkups and prescriptions, and protect themselves financially in case they face significant health care needs during the year. Those currently covered by a marketplace plan should visit healthcare.gov (or the marketplace in their state) during open enrollment to consider whether to keep the same plan or switch to one that may better meet their needs.
Whatever may happen to health reform will take time. Leaders of the effort to repeal the law have already said there should be a transition period to avoid disruption; an earlier repeal bill that President Obama vetoed would have kept subsidies for marketplace plans in place for two years. Many Republicans say they want to pass alternative health care proposals, and that could take them some time to figure out.
For consumers, coverage is available, but the open enrollment clock is ticking. People shouldn’t miss out on important benefits because they are confused or afraid.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy