On Saturday, September 6, 2013 I spent all day in a training seminar in order to be able to interface successfully with the new Colorado computer software program for the Affordable Care Act. Prior to this I had completed a 10 hour on-line course in preparation for the in-class portion of the training. Our access to the Marketplace, formally known as the Exchange, is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2013. The Marketplace is where individuals, with or without the aid of a broker or guide, can go to find out if they are eligible for federal subsidies for their health insurance premiums, as well as apply for the new ACA qualified plans.

All the on-line courses, as well as the class material was designed for the broker in training to have access to an on-line practice Marketplace in order to fully familiarize ourselves with the program before the kickoff in three weeks. However, the practice programs were not working and are not scheduled to be working before the start of the real thing. I have to give the instructor high marks in attitude and for attempting to familiarize us with how each of the program pages will supposedly work. But, without real practice, we mostly learned the theory of how it is supposed to perform, but no skill in navigating the system.

So, my guess is now I will spend the first week of October stumbling through the Marketplace in an attempt to figure out how it all works.

Do yourself a favor, if you want to work with me to find a new plan under the Affordable Care Act, don’t call me until late October.