Obamacare launched a series of online exchanges intended to attract enough healthy young people to counterbalance the higher cost for older or sicker enrollees. An online market place created by Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, the 2015 launch of Obamacare Health Benefit Exchanges promises to debug the faulty computer systems that undermined its first introduction in 2014. The Obamacare exchanges are designed as an Expedia where insurance companies can compete for better and affordable plans. In its core is the goal to provide health insurance for 29 million Americans in 2019, especially those who do not get insurance from employers.

The open enrollment period in the health insurance Marketplace is November 15th, 2014 until February 15th, 2015. With the limited time remaining, it’s best to look around now and see for yourself before the period closes. You won’t be able sign up outside of open enrollment without qualifying for a special enrollment period.

The exchanges can be used to enroll in a new plan, change plans, verify cost assistance, enroll in Medicaid and CHIP, and apply for cost assistance, a key feature of the market which can include premium subsidies and out-of-pocket subsidies depending on income. You can also switch plans or buy a new plan during open enrollment of the individual and family market. Consumers can make use of a price calculator to see if they qualify for cost assistance subsidies (as well as Medicaid and CHIP). Comparisons of qualified health plans to ensure the best deal for the individual and the family is also available.

Coverage that was purchased in the marketplace by the 1^st of a month starts on the 1^st of the following month.

Anyone is eligible to use the marketplace but only those without employer based health coverage and those making less than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level are eligible for cost assistance. Applying in the exchange also does not mean enrolling, so if you don’t like your current plan, you can go over your options in the exchange and apply.

It is still wise to look outside the marketplace especially of you don’t qualify for either Medicaid or cost assistance. It’s worth-noting that while your options may be different depending on where you shop, each specific major medical plan must be sold at the same premium regardless of where you get the plan. Almost all providers outside the exchanges have also unofficially adopted Obamacare’s open enrollment period so there is no escaping the fees ever you fail to enroll during that time. On the other hand, you are protected from the fee if you have other kinds of health coverage like Medicare Part A, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, any job-based plan, COBRA, retiree coverage, TRICARE, VA health coverage, or other plans you bought yourself.

As of today, 50 million Americans are still without coverage and the exchanges are only one part of a lawful approach to remediation. The simple idea behind the exchanges is to cater to millions of consumers in a way that creates higher competition among insurers, resulting to lower premiums. It targets a large number of individuals, particularly healthy young people, relying on individual policies, leading to larger risk pools.

Officially, the projection for 2015 sign-ups is 9.1 million. However, as the first month of exchanges opened, it seemed as if the number of enrollees would exceed the current projection for private coverage. According to U.S. data analyzed by Avalere Health, a Washington consulting firm, a “Bronze”-level insurance, the least expensive full-coverage plans available, will cost at least $307 a month on average for a 50-year-old nonsmoker next year. The cheapest “silver” plans, the category most popular with consumers, would cost the same person $381 on average, a 4 percent increase from a year before. Even so, the increase is still considered very minimal.

Each state is expected to develop and manage its own exchanges but so far only 14 agreed to do so. There is evident hostility among the other states as to the technical discrepancies of Obamacare. The second round for 2015 coverage opened with minimal rise in enrollees. The question of ease and security still lingers to most.

After the first open enrollment for 2014, there are already 8 million Americans who enrolled in a marketplace plan, with 6 million enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP through the marketplaces.