BlueCross BlueShield sets up RV in Aiken to help area residents enroll in health insurance

Dec. 30--As the deadline to ensure health insurance coverage approaches, Aiken area residents have another way to get covered by the first of the year.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina has set up a mobile RV in the parking lot of Planet Fitness on Whiskey Road to provide services regarding open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, for 2016.

There are three to four sales agents on the RV at a time, along with a manager, so people can walk right in during their hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

"The benefit (of the RV) is the ability to ask questions face-to-face, because we have found the majority of people that try to sign up for health insurance on their own find it a very confusing process," BlueCross BlueShield media relations specialist Brian Scoles said. "We have found there are a lot of questions out there that go unanswered through the health insurance process. People don't really know how to go about signing up and getting the best policy for them, so this RV came out of that realization that many people cannot or don't know how to surf the Internet and do what's best for them."

When people come to the RV, they can have their questions answered and can also present their health situations so agents can help identify plans that fit their life best, as well as sign up for BlueCross BlueShield or BlueChoice policies at the site, Scoles said.

The company offers 53 health plans to choose from either through the federally facilitated Marketplace at healthcare.gov or through private insurance.

Open enrollment for individual health insurance began Nov. 1, and Thursday is the last day for payment to ensure coverage for plans effective Jan. 1. Those who purchased a health insurance plan with a Jan. 1 effective date have until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday to submit payment for their first month's premium if they are paying online, Scoles said.

This payment deadline applies to all individual and family ACA plans bought either on or off the Marketplace. The second enrollment deadline is Jan. 15.

Scoles said one of the things that is most important to remember for next year is that fines for those who are uninsured double and can be as high as $695 per household adult and $347 per household minor, or 2.5 percent of combined household income. Additionally, he recommends subsidy recipients revalidate their subsidy for next year, and he does not encourage those who are insured to simply auto renew.

"Their health care needs may have changed for 2016," he said.

Those who stop by the RV should bring their driver's license or some form of ID and Social Security numbers for each members of the household they want covered.

Planet Fitness is located at 2531 Whiskey Road, and RV manager Steve Berzins said the RV could close as early as 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

For more information about BlueCross BlueShield, visit www.southcarolinablues.com and www.blueoptionsc.com or find an SC Blue retail store at www.scblueretailcenters.com. Toll-free phone lines are 877-313-2583 for BlueCross and 888-213-2460 for BlueChoice.

Christina Cleveland is a general assignment reporter at the Aiken Standard.

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