Exchange enrollment around Christmastime a bad idea: report

Scheduling the open-enrollment period for obtaining health insurance coverage during the holiday season—when low-income families are often struggling to make ends meet—is a bad idea, according to a paper published Wednesday in Health Affairs. The timing could cause individuals to make poor choices in purchasing a health plan or forgo coverage altogether.

“The holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year's—with pressures for buying presents, travel and the onset of winter home-heating bills—strains many family budgets,” reads the report by the Harvard School of Public Health's Katherine Swartz and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine's John Graves. “These are not months when lower-income households have extra money for paying premiums of health insurance plans that begin the following January.”

By contrast, the researchers note, many low-income families experience an infusion of cash in February or March because of tax refunds. In 2011, the average earned-income tax credit refund for families with children was $2,905.

The open enrollment period for 2015 coverage is slated to run from Nov. 15 to Feb. 15. But in subsequent years it’s anticipated that the window for coverage will close prior to the end of the calendar year.

The researchers analyzed Google search results to gauge financial stress. They found that searches for terms such as “payday loan” or “cash advance” peaked during the summer and at year-end. Conversely, individuals were significantly more likely to search for information on health insurance during the period just after the calendar year flipped.

Their conclusion: Low-income individuals would be more likely to make sound decisions about healthcare coverage if the enrollment period were held in the first quarter of the year.

“The ACA’s goals of maximizing enrollment in the health plans and maintaining a healthy balance of enrollees with low and high risks of having high medical expenses are more likely to be achieved if the open-enrollment season is shifted to the two months between Feb. 15 and April 15 each year,” the researchers wrote.

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