Jenn Brown Corrales created on Wed January 22, 2014
My name is Jenn Brown. I live in Corrales NM. I’m 27 years old. I am the Outreach Coordinator for the Agora Crisis center.
My experience of navigating the healthcare.gov website was a lot different than my first time trying to find private insurance about a year and a half ago. I had to try and find private insurance because I had just turned 26 because I was no longer eligible to be on my mom’s insurance plan. I had graduated and so between those two things I had to try and find private insurance. With previous conditions I wasn’t eligible for any insurance I looked into. My preexisting condition was called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, I had been struggling with it for years. Part of it means needing to be on birth control, and part of it is an insulin resistance. So, that triggers the red flags for being filed as a diabetic, so I was being declined coverage by insurance companies prior to Obamacare. Which lead me to going back to the University of New Mexico insurance, which really lacked the specialist I needed. And it was really frustrating. I had to pay a lot for little healthcare.
Recently, I had to look for new health coverage because Public Allies NM’s current health insurance did not meet the new standards put forth by Obamacare. So I had a couple options. 1) I could either stick with the current health care that was under or below what the law requires 2) I could look for private coverage through the NM Health Exchange, or 3) I could have tried to stay on my parent’s coverage (but that wasn’t an option for me, as I am 27). If I wanted to stay with the current coverage, I would have had to pay the tax for accepting that below coverage insurance, and I didn’t want to do that because it felt like a double ding. So, I decided to go with the Exchange.
So, when I was on the exchange website, it was really easy to use. When I ran into a problem when I answered some of the financial questions, I clicked on the chat help button and I talked to somebody right away and they were able to help me through it. And I went back and reapplied and I was able to access all of the enrollment options. And I was just blown away by how many options I had for healthcare that were in my price range, and had all the things I needed access to for healthcare. It was almost too much! But, it was a blessing that I had so many options. I was able to find a plan that fit my budget. I also have access to prescription dugs-- not just generics. And I’m really excited to be able to use that, I think this is a success for Obamacare. This has totally changed my eligibility.
Watch Jenn Brown and several other New Mexican's talk about their experience getting enrolled through the NM Health Exchange, here: