It turns out that most people who enrolled in health insurance for 2014 through HealthCare.gov didn’t bother going back to the site to shop around for better prices for 2015. That means they will pay higher premiums than necessary. It also raises a separate question: What’s the point of having options if so few people use them? From Opinion, Bloomberg.com
Such inattention to health insurance means more than just higher premiums. It may also mean a surprise when they learn their doctor is no longer in the network or that their deductible is higher.
However, all this is nothing new. Employees have ignored their employee benefits for decades; often at their peril. Years ago a study showed people spent more time buying a pair of shoes than assessing and managing their employee benefits.
Indeed, what is the point of all this choice? Nothing is unique to Obamacare, however. Employers, Medicare, Medigap and Medicare Part D all offer a plethora of choices that confuse and confound with no valuable purpose, but with the strong possibility of individuals making choices harmful to them.
Choice, competition and patients as consumers are all overdone buzzwords when it comes to health care.
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