Healthcare Exchanges Set to Open
Monday, September 30, 2013
By: Alicia Mandigo

It would seem October 1st is the pivotal moment in the Affordable Health Care Act. The Federal government's online health insurance exchange will open and people can begin to sign up for coverage. But the deadline to be most concerned with is January 1st.

With all of the recent political saber rattling- people are left confused about what they need to do October 1st- so here’s a quick rundown. If you have insurance through your employer, you don’t have to do anything. Likewise if you have Medicare, Medicaid, or if you’re a veteran in the VA system.  The exchanges are for people who are uninsured, or who need better, more affordable coverage.  But Professor Lynn Unruh from UCF's College of Health and Public Affairs, says the most important thing to remember is the deadline for coverage is January 1st, 2014.

“There’s plenty of time, there’s no need to panic and things will probably run much smoother each day following October 1^st,” she says.

There’s been concern the navigators- workers trained to help with the online exchange,  would not be ready by October 1st. However, Unruh says people can visit  healthcare.gov on their own and it should be pretty easy to use.