The health insurance marketplace opened on October 1st, and Central New Yorker’s got a chance to learn about and register for New York State of Health, New York’s version of the health care exchange.
Deputy Secretary for Health Courtney Burke says about 300,000 people in Central New York qualify for health insurance under the health care exchange, and about 75% of those people can qualify for subsidies to help them pay for it. New York State has four different options people can choose from: Platinum, gold, silver, and bronze.
“They offer different packages or services,” said Burke. “So you can choose to have a package that has more initial cost sharing, but then if you end up having to use these services you don’t pay as much.”
In the individual marketplace, the individual starting rates for approved monthly premiums are:
• Bronze: $227
• Silver: $286
• Gold: $324
• Platinum: $381
The Syracuse Community Health Center had Insurance Navigators from Total Care and the Salvation Army to help teach people about these new health insurance options. The New York State of Health website also launched to help people learn about the new options and sign up.
Courtney Burke said the website had over 2 million hits in the first few hours this morning.
“I think that indicates a great deal of interest across New York for people who are just looking for insurance, or perhaps just want to learn more about what their options might be in the future,” said Burke.