ACA Call Centers Still Busy
By Eric Vodden, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Both
Furthermore, Harrah said, the county call center is still receiving some 6,000 calls a month from people making Affordable Care Act inquiries.
"Our caseload has grown dramatically," Harrah said. "It's much more than what the state anticipated."
In
But what is also keeping
"We are still getting calls, but we have now reached the point where people have signed up and are still trying to get their applications approved," Brown said.
Local numbers unknown
Neither
The majority of Affordable Care Act clients have signed up through the state call center. Only those callers who are determined to be eligible for the expanded MediCal program are moved on to counties.
Under the expanded criteria, residents who are within 138 percent of the county's poverty level can qualify for MediCal coverage. In
"A lot of people applied for the Affordable Care Act and were found eligible for expanded MediCal," Brown said.
Harrah said
Both she and Brown said they hope the process goes smoother at the state level for the open enrollment period that begins
"They still need to improve interfacing," Harrah said. "They didn't anticipate income changes. They felt that people would remain static."
Brown noted glitches in the way the state determines eligibility that lasted through the entire open enrollment period.
"Hopefully the state will get that cleaned up for the next open enrollment," he said.
"Overall speed of the website is much faster," he said. "There have not been any errors while doing the application outside of open enrollment."
There are also more local physicians contracting with the Affordable Care Act, Lewis said. However,
"Hopefully, the state will use this time to catch up," Harrah said. "I know they are frantically working to get ready for the next open enrollment."
'Still open for business'
Even though open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act ended
"There are certain things that occur in life that will allow people to apply," Brown said.
A new job, the loss of employment, a divorce, a marriage, a new baby and the loss of MediCal eligibility are all considered life-changing incidents that could allow Affordable Care Act coverage outside the open enrollment period. The next open enrollment period starts
"We continue to remind people that we are still open for business,"
Such changes have to be reported within 60 days of the life-changing event to purchase an Affordable Care Act plan.
"Most phone calls are regarding a specific qualifying event which allows them to enroll in an individual insurance policy right now," Lewis said.
There is no open enrollment period for MediCal.
"If they are looking at the health care process and find out they qualify for the expanded MediCal, they can apply," Brown said.
Those with questions about Affordable Care Act applications outside open enrollment can call the
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