Four things the Trump administration has done to ensure Obamacare enrollment is more difficult this year:
The TL;DR Version
- Less Time To Sign Up: The ACA enrollment window, which begins Nov. 1, will only last for six weeks — half the time of previous enrollment periods.
- Sunday Maintenance: With the exception of Dec. 10, Healthcare.gov will be down for “maintenance” for 12 hours every Sunday during the enrollment period.
- Slashed Funding/Support For Navigators: Navigator groups, who help people select and sign up for ACA coverage, have seen their grant funding slashed by 40% in spite of promises it would be kept intact. Additionally, some groups say that HHS is not providing the support it used to for the glitchy, complicated software it requires these navigators to use.
- Who Needs Advertising? The advertising budget for the enrollment period has been slashed by 90%