Obamacare Signups Soar, But Knowledge Gap Still Exists
Posted January 21, 2014 09:40 am
TALLAHASSEE, FL - With a little more than two months to go in the open-enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act, community organizers say the biggest obstacle for consumers is not the Healthcare.gov website, but a lack of awareness about financial assistance.
According to Erin Knott of Enroll America, many Floridians her group has worked with are well aware that "Care" is available under the ACA, but the "Affordable" part takes some convincing.
Links:
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Enroll America
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Get Covered America
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HealthCare.gov
"We have our work cut out for us to make sure that we
are continuing to outreach and talk to consumers about
financial assistance that will be available; that we're
directing them to in-person assisters across the state;
that we make them aware of financial calculators that
exist," she declared.
In a recent Enroll America survey, eight of ten
uninsured respondents did not believe they could afford
health insurance. It's estimated that 60 percent of
those currently uninsured will qualify for financial
assistance under the Affordable Care Act. As of the end
of December, more than 158,000 Floridians had signed up
for insurance through the federal marketplace.
Knott said she hopes consumers will tune out the
rhetoric that has surrounded health-care reform and
focus on making informed decisions, particularly for the
more than 1.5 million uninsured Florida residents who
may be sorting through this complex information for the
first time.
"Insurance is complicated," she admitted. "I mean, the
difference between a deductible and a premium and an
out-of-pocket expense. We're making sure that people
have facts and that they know where to go for more
hands-on kind of help."
Open enrollment for plans offered under the Affordable
Care Act runs through March 31.
Photos/graphics and links added by the Observer