After a turbulent three years, the Affordable Care Act, which has been an annoyance to Republicans, the center of a Supreme Court case and one of the central tenants of President Barack Obama’s tenure, will move to its next step Tuesday as Wisconsin citizens and students will have their first opportunity to log into the online exchange and explore their health care coverage options.
The online marketplace, referred to as an exchange, will be federally run after Gov. Scott Walker opted out of pursuing a separate state-run option. Exchanges will allow people to buy mandated health coverage and will have a standardized list of available health care packages and subsidies for which people from different income brackets could qualify.
The ACA, a complex set of health care requirements that span hospitals, agencies and insurance providers, has already affected students nationwide by allowing individuals under the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ plans.
University of Wisconsin-Madison students who do not currently have coverage, either through their parents or otherwise, will be required to use the exchanges or rely on insurance from University Health Services, whose Student Health Insurance Plan qualifies in the high range of the ACA, according to Arnie Jennerman, the UHS director of administrative services.
Under the ACA, the available health care options will have to follow a standardized format that lists all health options in a way that makes inter-option comparison easier than before, according to Sara Eskrich, a project assistant at the Population Health Institute. Eskrich said the standardized formatting will help students and people 26-years-old or older to navigate the system by being able to “compare apples to apples” for the first time.
She also said the need for students to look for their own coverage can be “a real shock.” Both Eskrich and Jennerman said the best way for students and young people to manage the changes is to look at all the available options and carefully weigh the premiums and out-of-pocket costs associated with each plan.
Jennerman said the implementation would not affect the way UHS operates on a daily basis. UHS will continue to adapt to students’ needs and monitor the ACA as it evolves, Jennerman said.
