Here is something that President Obama needs to fix with HealthCare.Gov -- a major problem I've personally just stumbled into.
When I signed up for ObamaCare, the HealthCare.gov system offered dental insurance also which I signed up for. However, after 2 months in, I've found out that my dentist who I've been seeing for the past 2 decades isn't "in network" for Blue Care Network of Michigan.
When I contacted Blue Care Network to try to cancel my dental coverage, I was told they cannot do that and that any cancellation of my dental coverage has to be through the HealthCare.gov marketplace, either at the web site or at 800-318-2596.
However, on both HealthCare.gov and at the 800 number I've found out that any dropping of the dental coverage will completely axe my entire HealthCare.gov application....meaning that dropping (or even changing to another vendor) for my dental insurance at HealthCare.gov will permanently trash my health insurance coverage by removing the entire application from HealthCare.gov.
Dropping dental insurance now from my coverage at HealthCare.gov would be at a time past the open enrollment period. So this apparently means that dropping dental coverage is not considered among the exceptions that would allow me to re-enroll in the same health insurance policy I had because it is now past the open enrollment period and HealthCare.gov won't bifurcate the dental coverage from the health coverage.
At this point dental coverage becomes the HealthCare.gov tail-wagging-the-health-insurance-dog since no procedure is available that will allow me to separate this dental coverage from my health insurance coverage, which I am very happy with.
I really, really regret signing up for dental insurance on the exchange. Whoever thought it was a good idea to permanently weld dental coverage to the health coverage portion of HealthCare.gov and to deny the ability to drop dental coverage independent of health insurance must have been a pretty brain-dead system planner.
The take-away.....Don't use HealthCare.gov to get your dental insurance....ever...
11:29 PM PT: I've decided that I'm going to file a Health Insurance Marketplace appeal of the decision to hold my health insurance application hostage in my request to terminate dental insurance coverage I don't want.
11:34 PM PT: The other action I'm going to take is to file a complaint with the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services requesting an investigation of the failure of HealthCare.gov System Development Contractors to provide a means of terminating dental insurance coverage at the request of a person who previously obtained dental coverage at the exchange but seeks to cancel that coverage if it is no longer wanted or needed without jeopardizing health insurance that was also obtained from HealthCare.gov