The Annual Open Enrollment for Individual and Family Plans is nearly upon us. The first day the general public will be able to enroll in plans for 2016 is November 1st. However, many Californians have already started receiving notices about early renewals and possibly their 2016 rate to renew their same plan. As of October 12th 2015 existing Covered CA individuals can go to coveredca.com and begin their renewal as well as view the rate for 2016.
You may not know that once you receive the notice you will be automatically renewed 30 days after the notification if you do nothing. This is both good and bad, good for the retention numbers that Covered CA will publish and good for the individual or family that doesn’t have many changes throughout the year. However, many people forget to report income or household changes throughout the year, and normally it is updated during the renewal process. If people end up ignoring their notice and letting it auto renew they could be in for a big surprise come tax day.
If your family is Medi-Cal eligible Agents, Brokers, Navigator, or Certified Enrollers cannot make changes to your application. You need to go to your county services agency at your annual renewal time.
If you find yourself on hold for an extensive period of time or having a hard time getting the answer you need directly from Covered CA, you should consider using an Agent/Broker. They are a great resource and it costs you nothing to work with an Agent. You should think of an agent as the free customer service bonus, if you use one you can always call direct, go online yourself, and use all the other resources you would have without the Agent. Except, by not using one you are missing out on a wealth of knowledge, training, and guidance.