Affordable Care Act

Dania Palanker wanted to find out what kind of short-term health insurance plan she could get, a plan that only lasts for three months and can cost much less than some Obamacare exchange plans. On a website, she plugged in her age, 43, and listed her location as Louisville. Of the results, Palanker said one of the seemingly better plans costs $393 a month, which she said is much cheaper than she could get on an Obamacare exchange.

Enrollment under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a little easier for some Cincinnati residents. On Monday, March 17 the "Countdown to Get Covered" bus tour made a stop in Cincinnati. The stop is part of a national campaign focused on encouraging people to sign up for health insurance.

It is time to delay the health insurance sign-up under the Affordable Care Act until the multitude of computer glitches that have frustrated millions of Americans can be worked out, Sen. Rob Portman said in Cincinnati Thursday.

“I support repeal of the whole thing and replacing it with something that is better, but I do think that a delay is appropriate now,’’ the Republican senator from Terrace Park told reporters Thursday morning.

The glitches in the government’s computer system that have been causing frustration for millions of Americans trying to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act are being worked out, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in Cincinnati Wednesday.

“I will be the first to tell you that the web site launch was rockier than we wanted it to be,’’ Sebelius, a Cincinnati native said at a forum on the Affordable Health Care Act – also known as Obamacare –at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Wednesday.

Like the rest of the country, Ohio and Kentucky are rolling out their health exchange programs as part of the Affordable Care Act.

Ohio is going with the federal program while Kentucky is running its own marketplace.

Natalie Gordon of Elsmere is excited about the new program. She has ventricular septal defect (VSD), a heart condition that requires regular cardiologist visits. Despite having a job, Gordon says she's either been unable to afford health insurance in the past or has been turned down because of her condition.