My Experience Signing up for Obamacare(ACA) in Colorado

Filled out application for Obamacare (ACA)

Update 12/23/2013 - Paid the online invoice for Kaiser - Part of the Silver Plan

My experience:

1) Took 15 minutes for them to reset my password - Manageable (No, that was not my password but I judged it to be a manageable process) - The Oracle based password reset just DID NOT work so I had to call the 1-800 number.  It took them going into two different applications to "find" me.  I took a deep breath and remembered that the older lady (my perception based upon the voice) on the customer support line was trying to do her best.

2) Took 20 minutes to fill out the 1 question at a time and then choose the plan - They could have had it on one screen.  One of the questions asked to confirm that I was not incarcerated (in jail).  There was another question that asked EXPLICITLY if I was Latino or Spanish.  I did not understand why that was the case when the next question asked if I was one of the 10+ nationalities on the census form.  I also did not notice that there was a Spanish-version of the site but there could have been if my browser was set to that setting of language.

3) Payment Process - Confusing - It stated that it would bill me but it prompted me 5 times.  Given I had 5 people in the family, that explains why but this would be VERY confusing from a web site usability view.

All in all - The Colorado site gets a grade of 'C' - It was an average experience.  The design was about a 1997 design for a website.  Not even close to what a great 2010 - 2013 website should be....  No screens crashed but the screens were confusing.

I'm not sure how the healthcare.gov site performs since Colorado sets up it's own state exchange.

Chose Kaiser - About equal to what I was getting from a small 20-person consulting company so  it was worth it for my family.  So, the plan I chose had a premium of $929/month.

I did not choose a dental option and there were NO options for Gold, Platinum or any of those OTHER rare metals.  If you look at other states, they have different options based upon who the local providers in that area are.  For example, in Colorado, Humana is trying to break into the market.

Next Posting....What happens when my application is approved and then the billing process