DENVER — Elections have consequences. Perhaps there is no policy where that is more true than in the arena of health insurance.
On “60 Minutes” on Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump again reiterated his position to “repeal and replace” Obamacare.
That decision will impact more than 100,000 Coloradans who rely on Obamcare for coverage through tax credits.
“In this country how can a simple working person like me not have health insurance,” Hamid Sabet said.
Sabet uses Colorado’s exchange to get health insurance for his wife and three children. Before the Affordable Care Act, Sabet said he struggled to get insurance because of a preexisting condition.
“I am diabetic. I am afraid they will take it away,” Sabet said.
The FOX31 Problem Solvers wondered what customers should do with Trump and a Republican Congress set to assume power in January.
“I definitely think there is some confusion on it,” Tom Crennen, president of Coloradohealth.com, which operates an enrollment center in Denver.
But Crennen emphasized that any change “is not going to happen right away,” suggesting people should still enroll as if Clinton had won.
“I was heavily involved right from the beginning it took three years to get the whole Affordable Care Act into place and it will take at least a year to change it to a new type of plan,” Crennen said.
Current open enrollment lasts until Dec. 15 and if you sign up, you will be covered Jan. 1 — 20 days before Trump takes office.
Trump has promised to keep certain parts of Obamacare in place, including banning insurance companies from denying people with pre-existing conditions as well as allowing children to stay on parents plans until age 26.
Crennen said there are parts of Trump’s plan that might improve prices across the board, including allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines.