GEP527_Eng_IP

0:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

I know. I know legally you have to do that, so yeah. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay. All right. So to start, please tell me your first name and how long you've lived in Maryland.

0:17

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Muhammad, nor Adam is my full name. I've lived in Maryland since February the 4th of 2025. Wow. Okay. All right. You know the exact date. That's great. Well, I just recently saw the text message. I was like, oh, yeah, it was the 4th, wasn't it?

0:32

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

I said it was February, but I was just reading the message. Oh, yeah, that's February 4th. Okay. Okay. Well, that's great. All right. So can you describe your current health insurance situation? So you mentioned that you were covered by Kaiser. Yes. And then if you can just talk to me about the type of coverage, how long you've had it, why you chose it. I chose Kaiser because I had heard from a person that I got an Airbnb with from Alexandria about Kaiser.

1:01

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And she said, I have Kaiser, blah, blah, blah, blah. I was like, okay, I'll have to remember that. And then once I got where I could sign up for insurance, the first thing I did was look up the Kaiser plans and everything looked fine to me. And I'm from Texas where I had to have Blue Cross Blue Shield, which honestly wasn't the best insurance, but they do like the bare minimum for everything. Okay. So that was how I basically found my way to Kaiser. So, yeah. Okay. Okay. And how long have you had it?

1:30

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Since I could first get coverage after I've moved here, I want to say it was roughly the first of March of that year.

1:38

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

okay and because i had to pay you know the first month's uh premium before i could get coverage yeah and that was in february so i want to say i paid the first month premium like midway through the month or something but then uh like i say i was i want to say it was like the first of march okay and is there like a particular plan or anything within um there was the uh basically i tried to

2:01

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

i would prefer as i found my way in texas to get like the platinum plan because then you wind up saving money in the end because you might pay a lot for the monthly premium but then you don't have to pay for the doctor business you have to pay the like your reductibles are lower your monthly outputs lower like okay your monthly but besides the premium but it's just because in the i always look at always look at the

2:25

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

12-month cost, not the monthly cost. Because when I was in Texas, I was disabled. And I was able to afford that. I was basically free. But then after that, I had to pay it. My stepfather will pay it. But basically, I always look for it. If I can afford the month to month, I really do like to do the, look at this, focus on the end of the year. Because then you're saving money. Because in the end, you're still saving more money. So that's the way I always focus on that. Sure. Okay.

2:53

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Thank you. Sure, that makes sense. So have you ever faced any challenges in terms of understanding how to enroll or any kind of confusion about how to enroll? For the most part, even back in Texas, since the ACA has come into place, it's been pretty, it's a process that's very, very, very similar across all states that I've seen. And it's, once you understand one state, you can understand the other states. And I'm a historian, I'm a master's historian.

3:20

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

no processes and through applying for college and being in college.

3:25

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

like it's basically the same kind of thing over again and in my mind it's basically oh it's like this again it's just like a process you have to follow and the dominoes start to fall and it's just easy once you get into it in my opinion okay but no i've never been like honestly never been like huh but yeah i've been able to figure out for the most part okay okay um were there any like words or terms enroll during your enrollment that you didn't understand um

3:52

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Usually I went and looked them up, which I don't remember off the top of my head words or anything. Some of them were in legalese, so I had to go look it up.

4:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

No, I pretty much could understand it. Pretty much got it. Okay. And did you understand the differences between the plan options that you were saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, the way it's laid out between the bronze and silver, gold, platinum, that kind of thing, that should be understandable to anybody. So, no, that never really confused me. Okay. Okay, good.

4:23

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right. And did you seek any help at all when you enrolled or even after you started the application online or in person or through broker or navigator? I did at one point call in because it seemed much easier because they could just say, well, according to what you told us, this is the best way to go. But since then, I've been able to really just.

4:44

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

done my way through stuff and figure it out but if i ever had any like oh what is that i just call the uh the help the line the helpline and then usually they could nudge me the right way everything kind of fell in the place after that so not usually

5:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

but sometimes if i need it i'll call the uh that line and they always help me okay and so you did that the first time yeah yeah okay and then but this last time i didn't because i just basically followed what they told me they did and it made sense that makes sense okay and have you ever faced any challenges understanding your plan or health insurance communication about your plan like a letter or notice no they've been pretty

5:26

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

straightforward and pretty easy to understand it's just sometimes like some of the uh processes and stuff like i had to face in texas it made no sense but i haven't faced that here in maryland but it's been pretty pretty understandable pretty reasonable pretty like okay that makes sense okay one plus two equals four not 15. it's like what what yeah

5:50

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Absolutely. Okay. And how do you typically find out information about how to pick the best plan that works for you? Just depends. Like, I have diabetes and multiple sclerosis. And, like, if I can see that the doctors I need are in the network and if they will be affordable, that is the main thing I'll focus on. Of course, having to move here from Texas, I had to change everything. But just to try to find, like, look at...

6:17

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Google search for the doctor's name, see how weird they are, and see how close they are to me. And it's been pretty straightforward and easy. And the fact that it's the whole Minute Lake area, not just Maryland, but Maryland and Virginia and D.C., it's been very, it makes more sense than just trying to do it safe by state, which is the way that Texas does it, where it's like, because I live close to Louisiana, but heaven help you if you have to go to Louisiana for a doctor, because they ain't going to cover that. Or even Oklahoma.

6:45

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Because there might be specialties that they have right there because they're so close. But, you know, they ain't going to cover it if it's not in Texas. It just made no sense where it's like, really, if it's like one state over, you can't cover it. Nope. Nope. It has to be in Texas. Oh, okay. Of course, Texas being the size it is, I guess. But Maryland and, you know, the whole DMV being so close, that's understandable. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And let's.

7:15

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. So would you go online or like talk to any friends or you mentioned the broker? It was mostly online. Most of it was the finding online. But like I said, when I called the helpline, I did get the broker and they usually could help judge me or recommend the right thing for me to do. So yeah. Sure. Okay.

7:37

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And what was the top two things or pieces of information that you were looking for in a plan? Basically, if they had a neurologist that did muscle neurosis, that was close. And then, of course, the endocrinologist. At this point, everybody is a endocrinologist because there's type 2 diabetes everywhere. So, of course.

7:59

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Not everybody had Lyme disease for 21 years, like I did. But, you know, that's my own personal struggle. But being close to doctors and everything, especially dealing with all that, I've been always focused on, okay, how close is this doctor? Do I have to drive two hours to get there? Because then that's always kind of like, okay, I guess not that one. So yeah, as long as I can get the doctors I need when I need them, that would be the thing that got me. So yeah. Okay.

8:28

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Any other things like prescription drugs or preventative care, deductibles, copays? Yeah, I have an insulin pump, so covering all that was always a bit high on the list. And then deductibles, as long as it was reasonable, not outrageous. And then I always try to keep the out-of-pocket low.

8:52

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Because usually with my issues, I'm always max out of pocket by mid-year, unless I have to change plans halfway through the year, which sucks, because I'm paid off, and it's like, oh, you've got to change your plan. Oh, great, I've got to start that all over again. Great, wonderful. And of course, then I'm always like, okay, which would cost less? For me to stick with this plan and pay it out, or for me to switch to the cheaper plan and then have to get back up to the deductibles and the max out of pocket? It's always the game of, of course, that's the American healthcare system for you, so what do you want?

9:19

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Yeah. Okay. And how do you decide if the information that you're receiving is trustworthy or accurate? Me being a historian, former, what's it called? Journalist. I basically just research and just try to, if things make sense, things make sense. But honestly, I haven't ran across anything that didn't make sense that the healthcare change has recommended or brokers told me. So I haven't had to deal with that, honestly. Okay.

9:48

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right. And are you aware of any upcoming changes to health insurance enrollment or coverage rules? I think, of course, the

10:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

inevitable rising costs, but no, not that I'm aware of. Okay. How about in terms of like auto-enrollment or eligibility? Well, auto-enrollment would be great, but I think Kaiser actually does auto-enrollment, I think. I don't remember, like, because I remember going back and checking, but I think I was instantly enrolled this next year because I remember having to go to the healthcare.gov and do the, no, I didn't have to go to the healthcare.gov.

10:27

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Did I? No, actually, that's right. I guess they did do the auto-enrollment because I don't remember doing any of that this last year. Yeah, I guess they did do auto-enrollment. Okay. And how about in terms of eligibility or subsidy changes? No, nothing that I'm aware of right now. Okay. So now I would like to show you a summary of changes. So we're going to take a look at this real quick.

11:02

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

If I can get the pages to come apart. There we go. Yeah, it's always fun when you run copies. Let me know when you've had a chance to kind of read through that. So, immigration policies, coverage, divorce, auto-renewal, vending. Oh, okay, okay. That's nice to know.

11:25

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Yeah, like, of course, the tax credits, the premium tax credits that we lost, sadly, were the whole reason I'm getting at such a nice tax return this past time. And in 2024, which actually there was, when I did my taxes, I had zero coming back. When they did the IRS, it's like, no, we owe you like $2,000. I'm like, really? What? Okay. Because to me, in the end, I almost being like a nest egg that I put away. And oh, that's nice. But yeah, that's.

11:54

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

That makes sense, especially the immigrant populations. That makes sense. But yeah, yeah. So how might these changes affect your enrollment decisions? Minimal, because it's health care, something I have to have. So it's just.

12:11

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

just grumbling and have to pay more have to do things to make things work so yeah okay okay and in your words what does financial help mean in in here oh the the well the uh financial help like well the premium tax credits were a big help because then even if you

12:31

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

had to hold over until you got your next tax return, you could still have something to fall back on in the next year. But financial help for this year is almost to help for next year. So that's basically what that wound up being for me anyway. Okay. And is there a word that you would use instead of financial help? Like a future disaster fund? I don't know.

12:58

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. Just thinking it was almost like there's IRAs and there's ways to put up money. And then there's like that. I would kind of describe it as almost that. It's like a insurance fund for next year kind of thing. So, yeah.

13:17

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

So I can't think of my brother, the journalist that could always think of really nice headlines can probably think of something. But right now I can't think of anything. That's OK. All right. Great. OK. And so now I'm going to go ahead and just take this back real quick just so we don't get confused with all the various papers here. All right. Great.

13:42

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. And so have you ever received financial help to lower your monthly insurance costs? No, not really. Okay. And in your words, what do you think an advanced premium tax credit APTC is? Basically, like I said about losing it, just try almost.

14:10

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

You pay a certain amount, but you know you're going to get a certain amount back. So it's almost like the, like I was saying about IRA funds and stuff like that. It's like you're going to pay something in, but in the end, you're going to get it back in a year. So it's almost like a future savings kind of thing. Okay. And so what role, if any, does income play in how that financial help is calculated?

14:34

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Of course, all of it, honestly, because if you don't have income, you ain't going to be able to afford the premium and then you just have to go, you know, give up, I guess. I don't know. It's, I guess, the main role is that it would be income. Yeah. Okay. Okay. And so what role do you feel like that kind of plays with the financial health?

15:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Like I said, considering you're going to get some back, I guess that's almost like an assurance that in a year you're going to get help. You're going to have help. So kind of like do it as much as you can, like go as far as you can. But hopefully you can hold up until next year until you get your tax return. And then, hey, you know, you have some money to fall back on and you don't have to be so taxed out and so poor all the time. So, yeah, that kind of thing.

15:26

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And how confident do you feel estimating what your income will be for the next year? Right now, somewhat confident, but not really supremely confident. Because my wife is trying to transition between Taco Bell and go to Starbucks, but then she's having issues with the trainer that's not so nice. And it's just...

15:50

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Yeah, I can confidently say that a fair share of it's like for sure, but not all like the ability to step up isn't really there. So like somewhat halfway kind of confident. Okay.

16:03

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And let's see your income changed during the year. Yeah. So like if you got a raise or you lost some hours or whatever happens before. So what would you need to tell Maryland Health Connection about that change? Well, thankfully, thanks to the last year's tax return and my 2024 tax return, it's not coming. Not like I should be able to make things work still.

16:29

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. Okay. But if you had a change in income, would you need to tell them? Probably. Okay. Because I have had the platinum plan, had a downgrade to a bronze plan. So that's about the maximum that I've had to fiddle with since I've been here. Okay. Okay. And how would you go about telling them?

16:52

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Well, when I did it, I just went in and changed it to healthcare.gov and it basically filtered down from there. And I guess the email, phone call, I don't, like, how would I tell them? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And how soon do you think that you would need to report? As soon as you know. As soon as I know. Okay. Okay.

17:14

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

At the minimum, like a month before so you could get the premium for the next month, like prorated or reduced or something, I guess. Yeah.

17:25

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right. And have you heard of the term reconciliation or reconcile your taxes as it relates to your health plan? Yes, the reconciliation package, the way that all laws are passed these days. So, yeah, I've heard I've heard of the term, but it's more in a congressional budgeting way. But I've heard it like I influence my wife being an accountant. I've recently helped her.

17:47

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

get some of the terminology and stuff she kind of of course she learning in Bangladesh they still learned it in English just because they have to gear everything toward that but she is still kind of fuzzy on what the meaning of certain words were so I had to help her with that so yeah it's just basically making things match up and make sense that mathematically you know work in the end so yeah okay

18:08

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And so what do you think that reconciliation or reconciling your taxes means in this context regarding? Just making sure that things are what they should be and just making sure that in the end you don't go bankrupt when you don't get in the red and stay in the black kind of thing. Yeah. OK. And what do you think happens if someone receives more financial help than they qualify for? I have been a victim of that.

18:35

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

I was on disability for years. And then in the end, they basically said, oh, we overpaid you. You owe us this kind of money back. Oh, awesome. Great. Wonderful. I regret getting it all now. And it's just, yeah, you have to pay it back. Usually they'll level with you and they will audit it and be sure you actually owe that much. Because they told me I owed it like $10,000. I'm like, what? And then in the end, then they said, okay, $5,000. Now it's like $1,000. So it's like.

19:03

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

they will audit and people will check in it like they they actually check it and make sure that they're actually getting what they need to get to get you know the books back to level with again with me and for funding me so yeah yeah that that's like that's my impression or understanding of that so yeah okay and what do you think happens if someone receives less um then they get uh like a uh what's it called

19:31

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Back when I was found disabled to begin with, I got a back pay. That's it. You get the back pay. You basically, you're like, okay, there's the money we owe you from this time to this time, so here's your back pay kind of thing. Okay. All right. And now we're going to talk about a notice in a few minutes, and I'm going to show you an example. Do you need to stretch or anything? No, no. I have a pinched nerve in my left arm. It's okay. Okay. It's just been painful all morning after driving here. Yeah, I bet. Yeah, yeah.

20:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. All right. So before I show you that notice, I'm just going to ask you a few questions. So when you receive a health insurance notice in the mail or through email, what do you usually do? Honestly, put it, just follow it to the...

20:19

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

the the storage box on the email is always just put it in a uh the stuff folder like i just or just archived it or whatever i just save it for later in case i ever want because if i anything happens i'll bet i gotta notice about something i'll go then i'll go back and see it's like was that covered in that just basically stored away for future keeping okay

20:40

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right. And do you usually review these notices and do you like review them carefully or skim them or review them? I'll at least usually read the subject line and maybe read the, like the, some of them have an executive summary at the top, which is always nice. But then I'll, sometimes if I see that something I might, you know, they mentioned some coverage of specialty care or coverage of anything else that might affect me. Yeah.

21:07

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

generally read into it at that point. But usually, like I said, I just usually read the first couple of paragraphs or something and be like, okay, this is what doesn't affect me right now, and then I'll follow it for later. And then if I ever actually have to go back, like I said, if something happens in the next few months where I'm like, wait, I should go back and read that, now I'll go back and read it.

21:27

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And you mentioned that you typically receive it through email. How about physical mail? Yeah, yeah. Well, I usually put them in a, I actually keep them in a little file folder at the top of my closet. So yeah, that kind of thing. Okay. So can you describe a time when you received a notice from your health insurance plan that you found particularly easy or difficult to understand? Well, considering I don't completely read them word for word, not really. Okay.

21:55

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

But like I said, some of them get lost in legalese and terms and stuff. But for the most part, I can understand it pretty easily. Okay. And is there anyone you turn to for help when you receive this health insurance information, such as a family member, friend, or navigator? Well, these days, it's probably chat GPT. But other than that, yeah, or Google. That's always the fallback on trying to figure stuff out that you don't understand. So, yeah. Okay.

22:21

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And has there ever been a time when you received a notice and were unsure what or if anything you were supposed to do next? No, because usually they're pretty to the point what they need to do. So, yeah, not really. Okay. And are there things about the notices in general that make them harder to understand or read? Not that I'm aware of, no. Okay.

22:46

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right. So now what I would like to do is show you this notice. And here we go. And what I'd like you to do is just take a look at this first two pages here. Wait, I think I got two pages. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Basically something I've gotten before almost. Okay.

23:44

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right. So thank you for reviewing that. I'd like to ask a few follow-up questions now. So in your words, what is that notice telling you? Basically telling you, thanks to the tax credits going away, everything's going to go up and things will cost more. And the premiums go up because the tax credits are going down.

24:08

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And then the state assistance is trying to kick in and trying to help you where that's falling off. So basically they're trying to make up for it, for the state at least. And then there's the changes in the, you can choose another plan if necessary. And then of course, based on your income, like you can get assistance and it might be totally covered if it's that much that you can get healthless because your income's that low. Okay.

24:40

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. And what do you think this notice wants you to do, if anything? Just know that things are going to be more expensive. Things will cost more. And contact the exchange by the 15th if you want to change. And then be sure your auto payments.

25:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

still all set up and that might have changed because everything is changing. And then just basically, like I said, stuff I've experienced before and just try to stay on top of it and always be sure that things are happening and the auto pays are going to auto pay when they're supposed to happen. Okay. Is it clear who the notice applies to? Yeah, pretty clear. Like everybody, especially if your income's changed.

25:28

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Yeah, it's pretty clear. Yeah. Okay. Is there anything that you think is unclear or confusing or missing? Elect better people. Is that the only thing I can think of? Yeah, I hear that. Okay. And are there any steps that need to be broken down further in that? I don't know. I think you guys did pretty good with it. Of course, I'm not one of an analyst that does that kind of thing, but it looks okay to me.

26:13

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And were there any words or phrases that were unfamiliar or hard to understand? Well, considering I've been dealing with health care for the past 25 years, not really, no. Okay. So how confident do you feel that you understood the notice correctly?

26:34

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Pretty confident, yeah. Okay. And what terms do you think would need explanation for someone who is unfamiliar with health care? Maybe the advanced premium tax credit if they're not familiar with it. Okay. Qualified health plan, maybe. But you guys go pretty in-depth on explaining those, so I don't really think there's anything you would do. I need to talk about it any further, honestly. Okay.

27:06

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And after reading this, how likely would you be to take action related to your health insurance? Probably by the 15th.

27:14

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

I would say 100% by the 15th. Okay. Especially if I need to reduce the plan or try to adjust anything or it's out of pain that's not working or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. And what action would you take or not take? You mentioned a few things, but why would you take those actions? Because, like you said, be sure the pain is working and you're supposed to...

27:37

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

update your healthcare exchange application by the 15th. So that would be what I would do and make sure, like I said, make sure the auto pay is working and make sure everything's what they're supposed to be. Okay. Okay. And is there anything, any information that's missing that you would need? Not that I'm aware of, no. Okay. And are there any sections that, if any, that feel too dense or too hard to find?

28:05

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

No, you guys actually did pretty good with the bullet points. No, it looks pretty standard like most documents and things that I've seen like this. Okay. How about in regards to the headings or the font size?

28:22

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Of course, I imagine this on a computer. No, it all looks like, of course, on computers, you can make it bigger. But, yeah, everything looks like it would be the right size for me, or at least for me, anyway. Okay. And is there too much or too little information? No. Like, of course, if you want to leave stuff out, yeah, there's too much. But, yeah, no, no, everything looks fine to me. Okay. And is there enough spacing between the sections? Yeah.

28:49

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

It doesn't look that heavy. Well, I have a bad habit, especially when I'm making notes, like scrunching everything together so I can fit more on a page. But you guys definitely didn't do that with this. So it looks okay to me. Okay. All right. Great. So after reviewing the explanation about the APTC on page two, if you want to take a look at that again, what information is used to decide how much APTC someone can receive? Their income.

29:20

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

It depends on if you have a big income change coming this year or next year. But no, everything is pretty understandable, I can see. Okay. And are there any words or terms in the APT explanation that are unfamiliar or confusing to you? No, honestly not to me. Okay. And is there anything about how the APT sees work that you would want to know more about?

29:49

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Not that I'm aware of now. Okay. And has understanding or perhaps not understanding APTC's ever affected decision-making?

30:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

that you've made about your health insurance or taxes? No, the APTC is actually why I was happy that that happened to the whole exchange and the Affordable Care Act. So, yeah. Yeah. Okay.

30:17

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And are there barriers that might prevent someone from following these instructions or understanding this information? Well, if they, if they hate the government, they wouldn't do it. But other than that, like if they care about their healthcare and they actually want to stay on top of things and want to have health insurance, I wouldn't see anything that would stop them though. Okay. Okay. And.

30:42

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

If you needed this in another language or format, would you know how to ask for that? I would guess it would be on healthcare.gov. No, it would be on healthcare.gov. Okay.

31:02

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. And are there any barriers that might prevent someone from following these instructions? Oh, yeah. We did talk about that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And then you've got that. Sorry about that. All right. Now, what I would like to do is go to page four. Let's see. Okay. Yeah. Here we go. Considering we're looking right here, see where that arrow is? Yes. Okay.

31:30

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right. So looking at that choosing plan section, considering things when choosing a plan, I'm going to ask you some more questions. So were there any words or phrases that were unfamiliar or hard to understand? If you want to take a look at it and just kind of make sure you're good. Of course, like I said, I've been dealing with health care for 25 years, so everything looks pretty straightforward to me. Okay.

31:59

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. And how confident do you feel that you understood the notice correctly? Pretty confident. Okay. And what terms would need explanation for somebody who's not familiar? Well, considering the obvious of the APTC explaining that, and then the premiums, you should, yeah. No, honestly, not anything I could think of, no. Okay.

32:30

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And after reading this, how likely would you be to take action related to your health insurance? If I wanted health insurance, I would take action, yeah. Okay. All right. And so any particular action in regards to that choosing the health insurance section? By the 15th, I would update the profile and then choose a plan and then see that the auto payment is all set up. Okay.

33:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Any information that's missing? Not that I'm aware of. Okay. Okay. So now I'm going to take back the notice. Thank you. Thank you for all that information. Very helpful. Awesome. Thank you. Let me put that here. Now we're going to go for this. So if you want to take a minute and look over that. I love when they go, these are us warm. Right. Yeah. Okay.

33:39

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. So now that you've read about reconciliation, what about this information still confuses you or is unclear? Well, it's pretty clear to me. Okay. Okay. And can you explain in your own words why you think updating your income might matter? Because then they could help you more. Okay. Okay.

34:02

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And has anyone ever told you what could happen if you don't update your information? You lose coverage. So, yeah, that's, yeah. Yeah. And where did you get that information? Of course, like I said, I've been doing this for 20 years. But just knowing that if you don't, usually if you don't keep the insurance company up to date, if you don't keep the exchange up to date, you can lose coverage. So, yeah.

34:31

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And how concerned would you be about potentially having to repay excess premium tax credits? That's one of the bugs of the system, in my opinion. So what is your level of concern with that? Of course, only money isn't ever fun, but we all have bills. So we just have to put that in the coffers for the next bills. So, yeah.

35:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Yeah. Like, I guess pretty high, but not as high as trying to keep the insurance. Okay. Because it's like, yeah, it sucks, but I'm going to have to do it because I want to keep the insurance. Yeah. Okay. And what factors might prevent you from reporting income changes during the year? I guess it's forgetting for the most part. Not completely, like, remembering you have to do it. Like, that's the only thing I could really think of that I wouldn't report it. Okay.

35:31

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

So what might motivate you to report proactively or quickly? Well, if you don't want to lose coverage, don't want a chance losing coverage. And trying to see if, especially if you could get more help or assistance in trying to reduce, that would reduce your output and your premium and everything. So yeah, of course I would want to do it quickly. Yeah. Okay.

35:55

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And if repayment rules become stricter and more consumers may owe money back, how would you want this information to be communicated to you? Probably by email. Actually, email and physical mail would be nice. And then if it ever gets really, really dire, a phone call.

36:16

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

But, of course, that would require having people do it. But basically, the email, I think, would be enough for a text message. Ask them to sign up for notifications and everything, considering it does everything by SMS message these days. But, yeah, I would say just hit on them all fronts as much as possible. Like I say, if it comes down to the day of, call and just say, hey, you do realize you absolutely have to do this, right?

36:44

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

So, yeah, I would say if you haven't heard back from them or they haven't signified to you they're going to do it, you have to call them to do it. Especially if they've shown you that they actually really care about maintaining it, which honestly everybody should. Yeah, that kind of thing.

37:02

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And what tone do you believe is most effective to receive this type of information? Almost kind of just a, hey, like friendly reminder, just almost trying to act like a friend but not, you know, totally.

37:16

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

putting on an act like your friend. Just say, hey, friendly reminder that this needs to be done and to maintain coverage. And I know you need health care. So we suggest you do it, please. Kind of that kind of thing. Yeah. Do you think that it would benefit from like an educational tone or step-by-step guidance? Basically, yeah, step-by-step guidance after the initial get them to buy into it. So, yeah. Okay.

37:42

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

And how about like any kind of emphasis on avoiding penalties? Yeah. To avoid penalties, to avoid losing coverage, that kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. After you've already the initial buy-in and then the, this is the process, but just remember if you don't do that, you get this. Okay.

38:00

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right, great. Because the people that are scammers and stuff that try to scare you and stuff, they always start with that. They always thought, you're going to lose this, this, this. That's not the way that anybody that's thought about it goes about this kind of thing. The people that are scammers and you're trying to get money from it, you start with that, but not the people that care and actually trying to do the process. Very true. Yeah.

38:22

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

All right, so I'm going to take this back. So I really want to thank you very much for your thoughts today and for all of your sharing and everything that you told me is going to be super, super helpful and will be used only for research to help improve the services for members like you. But before we finish, what else would you like to tell me about your experience with enrollment that may be something or something that's important to you?

38:49

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Well, like I said, I started with the platinum and then had to reduce it to bronze to afford it. But just basically whatever your situation, whether it's the assistance from the government or your income, just do what you can do. If you can afford X amount per month, do that because then you're going to save money. And if you have to keep your premiums down, okay, just know you're going to spend more money in the long run. So that kind of thing.

39:16

S… Speaker 1 (GEP527_Eng_IP)

Okay. Like just as long, like just number one is maintain health coverage. So yeah. Okay. Anything else that you can think of that we've missed or anything else that's important to you? Um, no, not that I can think of. Okay. All right. So thank you again for your time and for your ideas and your feedback is definitely going to make a huge difference.

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