WASHINGTON —

With open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act starting Tuesday, Oregon is preparing for the official launch of its statewide health insurance exchange, Cover Oregon.

The online marketplace, where individuals and employers can comparison shop for health insurance, is a key component of the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law that requires most Americans to have health insurance by 2014.

By providing more Americans access to health care, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, strives to counter rising health care costs by reducing the number of people who seek health care only after they have become sick, which can be expensive and inefficient. The law offers subsidies to individuals who can’t afford coverage on their own and seeks to provide coverage to the 18 million nonelderly Americans without insurance.

Also, making health care available to more people may reduce future treatment costs, as people with chronic illnesses like diabetes can better manage their conditions rather than requiring emergency care after reaching a crisis point.

Oregon is one of 17 states nationwide that is running its own statewide exchange. Since the Legislature passed the law authorizing the exchange in 2011, Oregon has received more than $75 million in federal grants to help launch its exchange, including $59.9 million in early innovator grants.

“We’ve been building, over the last two years, an online marketplace,” Rocky King, the executive director of Cover Oregon, told reporters last week. Cover Oregon’s efforts are about more than creating a website where Oregonians can shop for health insurance, he said.

“The exchange is a tool,” he said. “It’s about health, and the health of Oregonians.”

Cover Oregon

On the website — found at www.CoverOregon.com — visitors can find a community partner or agent searching by county, zip code or language, he said. People can compare plans by price or quality rating, and there will be a tax-credit calculator on the site, which will help users determine if they are eligible for subsidies.

While users will be able to compare the cost of plans online beginning Tuesday, they won’t be able to use the website to enroll in a plan until about Oct. 15 or so, King said. They can still enroll in other ways, such as through the mail or by coordinating with one of the state’s 2,000 certified insurance agents or 1,200 community partners trained to help people navigate the enrollment process.

One key deadline is Dec. 15, which is the latest point to enroll and have coverage kick in by Jan. 1, when individuals are required to have health insurance under a provision known as the individual mandate. Open enrollment for individuals ends on March 31.

Provisions and penalties

Under the Affordable Care Act, most individuals must have health insurance by 2014, whether provided by their employers or self-purchased. To compel people to enroll, the law imposes financial penalties on those without insurance.

The penalties for individuals are relatively modest for 2014: $95 per person or 1 percent of household income, whichever is greater. But that rises to $325 or 2 percent of household income in 2015 and $695 or 2.5 percent in 2016. Families will face a 2014 maximum penalty of $285 or 1 percent of household income, followed by $975 or 2 percent in 2015 and $2,085 or 2.5 percent in 2016.

There is a cap on penalties, which is the cost of a basic insurance policy on the state exchange that would satisfy the law’s minimum standards for coverage. The law also allows for a coverage gap of up to three consecutive months, so if an individual signs up before March 31, he or she won’t face a penalty.

There is also a plan that allows people under 30 or older people with limited incomes to buy “catastrophic” coverage. If they require treatment, they pay for all the costs of care up to several thousand dollars, and essential care beyond that is covered by the insurance company. This plan is designed to prevent a crushing financial blow if someone suddenly gets sick or injured.

Other components of the Affordable Care Act are already in effect. Children can stay on their parents’ coverage until they turn 26, and children under the age of 19 cannot be denied coverage for a pre-existing medical condition (this expands to all ages beginning Jan. 1). In addition, companies cannot drop your insurance if you get sick and cannot put a cap on the total coverage an employee receives over his or her lifetime.

The employer mandate, which requires companies with 50 or more full-time employees to provide them health insurance, has been postponed until 2015.

Small employers — those with fewer than 50 full-time employees — can also comparison shop for health insurance plans on the exchanges. That feature will be up and running on the website later in October, said King.

Subsidies and Medicaid

Cover Oregon estimates there are 400,000 Oregonians who may qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, not all of whom are already uninsured. By the end of 2014, it hopes to have enrolled 217,000 Oregonians through its exchange.

Oregon is also one of 26 states that is expanding its Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, allowing individuals and families earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level to enroll in the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program.

Oregon is one of a handful of states that is using existing data, such as information about participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps), to determine if people meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, said Jessica Stephens, an analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health care think tank based in Washington, D.C. SNAP participants who meet the requirements will be enrolled for Medicaid without having to submit a separate application, she said.

By the end of 2016, Oregon anticipates adding another 240,000 people to the Medicaid rolls.

“The state has had a long-standing commitment to health coverage,” she said. “They’re building upon much of the infrastructure that they developed for the Healthy Kids program and applying it to the Affordable Care Act.”

In 2011, there were 589,681 Oregonians without health insurance, or 18.1 percent of the total nonelderly population, according to the Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimate. In Deschutes County, there were 23,680 uninsured (17.6 percent), compared with Crook County’s 3,264 (19.9 percent) and Jefferson County’s 4,400 (25.1 percent).

Important dates

Tuesday: Start comparing health care plans online.

Mid-October: Online open enrollment for Cover Oregon begins.

Dec. 15: Deadline to enroll to get coverage by Jan. 1.

Jan. 1, 2014: Coverage begins for those enrolled by Dec. 15.

March 31: Enrollment ends.

Contacting Cover Oregon

• www.CoverOregon.com

• 1-855-COVER-OR or 1-855-268-3767

Additional details on rates

• www.oregonhealthrates.org

Subsidies

You could qualify for financial help:

• For an individual, if you earn less than $45,960

• For a couple, if your income is less than $62,040

• For a family of three, if your income is less than $78,120

• For a family of four, if your income is less than $94,200

• For a family of five, if your income is less than $110,280

• For a family of six, if your income is less than $126,360