This will be short. I'm a 59-year-old male living in San Francisco and I've been on the individual insurance market for several years now, so you can imagine how eager I've been for the Obamacare exchanges to start. And I was quite encouraged by my early visits to Covered California because I was able to get a price quote by providing nothing more than my age, income and zipcode.
But now I want to take the next step and actually buy a policy. I thought it would be simple, but I'm getting quite frustrated.
According to the website, you can apply online, over the phone, or submit a paper application by mail. Well, of course, I'd prefer to apply online. So, I click the Shop and Compare link and I provide my age, income and zipcode and then Submit. It shows me the four tiers and the four plans offered at each tier. Very clear. Fine. I know which one I want to purchase.
What do I do next?
The only link I see is Get Contacted for More Info. So, it takes me to a page where it asks my name and how I want to be contacted. I choose email and then submit and the website just loops endlessly without giving a response.
In any case, giving them contact information to get back to me doesn't seem like submitting an application online. What am I missing? I thought we were lucky here in California because we have our own exchange and our own website so we're not affected by the problems with the federal website. But I have to admit I'm getting frustrated.