—As a 6-month-long sign-up season comes to an end Monday the administration's next big challenge is to make 2015 open enrollment more manageable for consumers unaccustomed to dealing with insurance jargon. —Nearly half the states are still opposed to or undecided about the law's expansion of Medicaid, the government's health insurance program for the poor. [...] the "sticks" are just over the horizon: collecting penalties from individuals who remain uninsured and enforcing requirements that medium- to large-sized employers provide affordable coverage. Many basic facts about the ultimate effects of the health insurance program remain unclear. "The No. 1 thing that probably we've all learned from 2014 is that this is hard work," said Gary Cohen, outgoing director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, the agency created to carry out the health care law. Among those consumers is Dan Luke of St. Paul, Minn., the owner of a small video production company who had been uninsured since he was turned down for coverage last year due to a pre-existing condition. [...] those signing up have skewed toward an older crowd. "Instead of just circling the wagons against all the political arrows that are shot against this plan, we need a little more accountability, and we need to ensure the next enrollment period is not handled as poorly as the last one," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 15 minutes ago.
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