My experience with the exchange has been a nightmare. Note that I have finished a PhD, yet the anxiety for that had been more manageable than the anxiety I have endured through navigating the exchange. I have grown more gray hairs recently than during that period (unpublished observation). As I previously mentioned, the website did not work on October 1, but I will attest that I did work that day. This was not a problem, as my cancellation letter had stipulated that our coverage would not end until April 1, 2014, which must have been some exemption provided by the administration. I waited for things to be fixed, and although the website has actually allowed me to put security questions and sign up since then, I still periodically get error code 500.300518, which prevents me from looking at available plans. The major issue that I am facing now, which has already been reported on, is the fact that if your children are eligible for Medicaid, you cannot get family coverage through the exchange. Instead, I was told in my eligibility results that my information would be sent to the Virginia Department of Health. But guess what? That is not happening. After calling the healthcare hotline, I was told that I would have to sign up for Medicaid through the Virginia website. Why is that? The Virginia Department of Health is not certain when they will get that information. I cannot sign up for insurance until I find out how my children will be covered. However, I am fortunate enough to still have my current coverage.

I have since applied for that coverage and am waiting to hear if my children are eligible. I have made use of the eligibility calculator through the Virginia Department of Health, and those results have suggested that my children would not be eligible. As it stands now, I am not certain that my children are eligible. What does it mean if my children are not eligible? I don’t honestly know, since I have been told that the healthcare exchange is not set up for that scenario (which I admit could be misinformation provided by the healthcare hotline). If it turns out that I can get a health policy with my subsidy, I have been told that the plan available through Anthem will cost me $1,396 after the government subsidy. In that case, I will be paying less for health insurance than I previously was.