As soon as this is written, something can and probably will happen that will require me to re-post. Nevertheless, as of right now the State of Arizona has not decided that they will allow people to keep their current plans past the 2014 renewal date. There are many problems that such action could cause. It is a new and unplanned expense to the program. In the end, expenses are passed to the consumer in rates or taxes.

There is a great risk that such a move would render the Exchange to become a large risk pool for the sick, poor and uninsured only. The long term effect on the rate of such a move are horrifying. Aa example of this follows.

In August 2011, the Government started a PCIP Insurance Plan. It was guaranteed coverage without pre-existing conditions for people who had been declined coverage and did have have insurance for six months. The initial response was poor so rates were dropped to attract more consumers. In February 2013, the plan stopped accepting new applications. The cost of the plan had created too huge a deficit. The cost of a “Medical Risk Pool” seems to always be much higher than people expect.

As for now, the best strategy for keeping your current plan is to have the renewal date changed to December 2013 so you stretch it through December 2014.