Friday, August 16, 2013

Until now, the Affordable Care Act was a massive piece of government bureaucracy that many American knew little about or didn’t particularly like.

On Thursday, the Obama administration named the organizations, including one in Palm Beach County, that will become the face of the controversial law.

More than 100 organizations will spend $67 million to hire workers who will go out into communities and enroll people in health insurance under the law beginning in October.

The funding is particularly crucial in Florida, where the state is not spending any additional money to get the word out about the new law or to try to enroll some of its 3.5 million uninsured residents.

“People have lots of trouble understanding what the law is.  The navigators will be that link,” said Leah Barber-Heinz, director of Florida CHAIN, a healthcare advocacy group.

“We know that 78 percent of people are unfamiliar with what the marketplace is, let alone how to shop and compare and contrast the options that will soon be there for families.”

The hundreds of “navigators” hired could shape how the law is perceived and bend the cost curve of health insurance.  If they can enroll a large enough segment of the young and healthy, the cost of health care for others will go down.

The Affordable Care Act prevents insurers from denying coverage to people who are already sick.  If large numbers of older, sick Americans sign up without healthy people to counterbalance them, health insurance premiums could skyrocket.

The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach is one of eight organizations receiving $7.8 million to reach out in Florida.  The society’s grant of $446,783 will allow it to target consumers in Palm Beach, Martin, Okeechobee, and Hendry counties.

The organization’s focus will include “urban and rural communities that are racially, ethnically, linguistically, culturally and socioeconomically diverse.”  It’s audience is 270,000 people in those counties who have no health insurance and who are under the Medicare eligibility age of 65.

“This was something that was near and dear to our hearts,” said Robert Bertisch, the society’s executive director.  “We see what happens to people when they don’t have coverage.  Most of our clients who need help with their bankruptcy, one of the reasons (they file) is they have medical debts they just cannot pay for.”

The organization already works with clinics to identify patient who may have a legal issue, such as mold in an apartment that is causing a child’s asthma.

The group proposes to: hire five navigators; participate in 60 community events across four counties; enroll 3,000 people; produce five multilingual Public Service Announcements.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the grant awards on a conference call during a trip to the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health in Tampa.

The agency is prepared to enroll millions of American – some for the first time – in less than two months, she said.

“We’re on schedule with providing consumers with tools online, on the phone and in person, to get the coverage they need,” she said.  “And we’ll be ready October 1.”

Through the website healthcare.gov, people can enroll on their own.  They can call a help line for phone assistance.  That’s where the navigators come in. 

The state’s biggest counseling push will come from the University of South Florida program, called Florida Covering Kids & Families.  The nonprofit received $4.2 million.  It will work with up to 10 partners to help consumers and small businesses enroll.  It will also have educational activities to promote the insurance exchange, also known as a marketplace, where consumers can sign up for insurance online.

Other organizations receiving grants in Florida include the Epilepsy Foundation of Florida; Advanced Patient Advocacy, which works in 21 states to help educate and enroll uninsured consumers; the Pinellas County commission; the National Hispanic Council on Aging; and Mental Health America; which will target people with behavioral disorders.

This counselors hired by these organizations will spend 20 to 30 hours in training, be required to pass a test and be expected to follow rigorous privacy and data standards.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was one of 13 attorneys general who sent a letter Wednesday saying HHS “failed to adequately protect the privacy” of American who use counseling services associated with the health care law.  They argued that agency rules do not require background checks or list any disqualifying criminal acts that might prevent a counselor from being chosen.

“We are absolutely focused on privacy and security standards at the department,” said Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, deputy director of policy and regulations at HHS’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.

Organization will begin hiring counselors immediately.  Training is scheduled for later this month.

"‘Navigators’ to help state residents get Obamacare" by Laura Green in The Palm Beach County Post on August 16, 2013

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