Local Health Care Providers Gear Up For Launch Of 'Obamacare'
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The keystone of the Affordable Care Act goes into place tomorrow when the federal government opens enrollment in health insurance exchanges for the uninsured and underinsured. An estimated 600,000 people in our region will be eligible. Their coverage will begin January first.
The Census Bureau says 11 percent of our region lacks health insurance, a rate that Anne Bachrach of the Health Law Project expects to drop sharply.
"There've been lots and lots of people waiting for this day, who are really eager to buy insurance."
Bachrach says some have pre-existing conditions; that will no longer keep them from getting insurance. Others couldn't afford it; the exchanges will lower the cost through tax credits and subsidies.
Ironically, the neediest are not eligible for the exchanges. Poor adults with no children or disability are excluded because the law originally required they be enrolled in Medicaid. The Supreme Court struck down that part of the law.
Governor Corbett recently proposed a modified Medicaid expansion but Bachrach says, for now, many poor adults will remain uninsured.
"These folks are still not going to have a medical home where someone knows them and sees them regularly for acute care."
Many service providers are gearing up to help with the process.
Kate Kozeniewski has an unusual job title for someone who doesn't work in transportation. She's a "navigator," a job created in the Affordable Care Act to help the uninsured choose a health plan.
"People just have so many different questions about so many different things. They're getting information from so many different sources. Some are reputable, some are not reputable and the people are just really, really confused."
Kozeniewski has been working with community groups on outreach and tomorrow she'll begin walking consumers through the process.
"They don't have to memorize the law, they don't have to know the ins and outs of it, there's people who can help."
In the 5-county Philadelphia area, customers can choose between Aetna and Blue Cross, each of which have four different plans, with varying prices. Blue Cross vice president Brian Lobely says the insurer has been doing its own outreach.
"Every family's different, every individual is different, so it's important for them to do the research and pick the plan that best suits their needs."
For more information, go to HealthCare.
