Don’t Let This Happen To You! 3 Lessons I Learned After Signing Up For Obamacare

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

I failed to read the fine print when I signed up for insurance using the healthcare.gov marketplace.

I thought I could save $2K per month by terminating my Cobra coverage. But after signing up, I learned that the plan I selected doesn’t cover my daughter who attends school in New York City. Now I have to register for additional coverage in the state of New York.

According to the school website, the additional coverage will cost us $2,500 for the semester. It’s still cheaper than Cobra for our family, but it adds a layer of complexity and a gap in our coverage for the next month.

I learned three lessons:

Lesson 1: You pay for what you get

Cost isn’t everything when it comes to your healthcare plan, but when you are footing the bill as an individual it can carry a significant weight in the decision making process.

You can find some very economical monthly plans through the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace, but what you save in monthly expense, you pay for in convenience and access to quality care.

For example, my son needed 4 teeth pulled. His long time dentist wasn’t on the plan so we had to find a new dentist under…