A recent study published in Health Affairs suggests the open enrollment period for Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act marketplaces should be shifted to the spring, just after people receive their tax returns.
For the study, the researchers examined annual patterns in Google queries between January 2004 and December 2013.
The researches found people searched for terms that indicated they needed financial help such as "payday loan" and "cash advance" the most during the winter holiday season — which is when open enrollment for health insurance marketplaces takes place.
The study found people did not search for healthcare information as much in the middle of winter when they had other financial stressors. However, the researchers found people searched for health insurance related terms at a much higher rate during the time just after they received their tax returns.
The open enrollment period is set to begin Nov. 15 and run until Feb. 15, 2015. The researchers suggest the open enrollment period be shifted to begin Feb. 15, 2015 and run until April 15, 2015.
The researchers determined the shift in the open enrollment date would not only allow low-income individuals to make better health insurance decisions, but it would also allow them to have more accurate financial information available to determine eligibility for subsidies.
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