Website, help line go live Tuesday

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.迷你倉Sept. 28--Virginians who want help signing up for health insurance in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces will be able to get in-person and telephone assistance from a statewide network of navigators working for a newly developed program called Enroll Virginia!The Enroll Virginia! website, .enroll-virginia.com, and telephone help line are scheduled to go live Tuesday, the start of open enrollment in health plans in the ACA marketplaces."We have about 20 navigators statewide," said Jill Hanken, program director for the Enroll Virginia! project and an attorney with the Virginia Poverty Law Center.The law center was awarded an approximately $1.3 million federal grant to hire navigators and develop resources to help people enroll in marketplace health plans. The grant was oneof two awarded to Virginia organizations to do outreach and enrollment assistance.Advanced Patient Advocacy, a Richmond-area firm, was awarded a $483,433 grant to work with medical centers to identify uninsured patients and assist them in enrolling.The awards were announced Aug. 15, just 47 days before the Oct. 1 scheduled launch of the marketplaces."Our grant funded 16.3 navigators, and we have already engaged a few volunteer navigators. If we can build our volunteer capacity, that would be great," Hanken said.The navigators have all completed at least 20 hours of required training."It's fairly intensive training," Hanken said. The navigator training and certification is by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, she said.Hanken said the navigators will be working out of legal services programs across the state, including in Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Richmond, Petersburg, Norfolk, Hampton, Fredericksburg, Fairfax, Arlington and Harrisonburg."We have two navigators working with the Young Invincibles project in (Washington) D.C. Their focus will be in the Northern Virginia community college system," Hanken said. "They will be focusing on fin文件倉ing young and healthy individuals, working with students, faculty and staff."The Enroll Virginia! website will allow people to search by location for navigators and others who can offer unbiased information. Consumers also can call (888) 392-5132 toll free to reach the program.The federal website, healthcare.gov, also will have enrollment information starting Tuesday.Organizations that operate federally supported community health centers such as The Daily Planet and Capital Area Health Network also will have staff trained as certified application counselors capable of helping people understand their options.Hanken said the Enroll Virginia! website also will list those type locations.Navigators also will be able to direct people to other programs they may qualify for, such as Medicaid and children's health insurance programs.Hanken said a number of the Enroll Virginia! navigators are young attorneys. Their volunteer navigators include two retired nurses and a retired journalist.States had the option of developing their own health insurance marketplaces, but Virginia and a number of other states decided to leave it to the federal government.Federal officialsWednesday provided a first glimpse of what health insurance premiums may look like in the marketplaces.Information for Virginia showed that there will be an average of 47 health plans in each of 12 geographical areas used for rating or pricing premiums. Plans are categorized as catastrophic, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum, varying by how much they cover and cost.TLsmith@timesdispatch.com(804) 649-6572Health reform forumThe Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy will hold an educational forum on health care reform at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Second Presbyterian Church, 5 N. Fifth St. The program is free to the public.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) Visit the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Richmond, Va.) at .timesdispatch.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉