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The federal health insurance marketplace set up under the Affordable Care Act has gotten off to a relatively uneventful start in its second year.

The healthcare.gov website, in other words, is working.

"Thus far — fingers crossed, knock on wood — things are going pretty well," said Chris McArdle, an insurance broker with the Rauser Agency, which has offices in Milwaukee and Mequon.

That contrasts to last year when the website didn't work the first few days and was inoperable for much of the first month.

There reportedly have been some glitches since the start of the open-enrollment period on Saturday, including problems with passwords and with the computers at the federal call center going down at times.

But Caroline Gomez of Covering with Kids and Family, an advocacy group, said she didn't have any problems with the website at an enrollment event Saturday that drew 35 people.

With the start of the new enrollment period Saturday, people also are getting some idea of how much their costs could increase this year. Many are learning that they will have to change health plans to avoid steep increases.

An analysis by Avalere Health, a consulting company, found that for a 50-year-old non-smoker in Wisconsin, premiums increased:

· 1% for the average lowest-cost plan in the bronze tier.

· 1% for the average lowest-cost plan in the silver tier.

· 0% for the average second-lowest cost plan in the silver tier.

But the analysis also found that the second-lowest cost plan is not the same as last year in any of the regions throughout the state.

The federal subsidies — available only for health plans sold on the marketplace — are pegged to the second-lowest cost plan in the silver tier.

As a result, people who want to remain in their current plan could see their premium increase and their federal subsidy decrease unless then change health plans.

That can be a hassle.

"There's always some measure of inconvenience," McArdle said.

One of the goals of the law was to encourage competition among health insurers.

"This is what the drafters of the law hoped would happen," said Len Nichols, director of the Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics and a professor of health policy at George Mason University.

Competition can help

The competition among health insurers in turn could put additional pressure on health systems to become more efficient and help slow the rise in health care costs.

The number of health plans in southeastern Wisconsin tied to Aurora's network suggests that could be happening. Aurora apparently was willing to give health insurers better prices than its competitors.

"From an economist's viewpoint, this is the way markets are supposed to work," Nichols said. "But now consumers have to do their part."

If consumers switch to lower cost plans, he said, other plans will be pressured to match those prices next year.

Molina Healthcare, for instance, sharply lowered its rates for next year.

"If their network works for the consumer," McArdle said, "Molina can be a great value."

Changing health plans can mean changes in networks of doctors and hospitals as well as changes in deductibles and prescription drug coverage.

But the changes could be lessened in southeastern Wisconsin because most of the health plans are tied to Aurora Health Care's network of hospitals and doctors.

People with coverage will be automatically enrolled in their current plan by Dec. 15, but they will have until Feb. 15 to change plans.