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With 10 Days Left, Health Insurance Marketplaces Plan for Late Nights Ahead

By Talia Schmidt,

02.05.2015

With the close of open enrollment only 10 days away, health insurance marketplaces are planning extra events and longer hours to encourage last-minute signups. Yesterday, as part of ourĀ open enrollment teleconference series, we heard from five enrollment leaders in states where the federal government runs the marketplace.

Many states are offering extended hours during the final weekend of open enrollment to make sure as many people as possible get covered, saysĀ Laura PhelanĀ ofĀ Get Covered Illinois.

Michigan is tapping into its community resources. Groups like Get Covered Michigan are phone banking, proactively calling consumers, and talking to people in local library branches and various neighborhood events, saysĀ Michigan Primary Care Association’sĀ Phillip Bergquist.

Social media and advertising essential for reaching consumers

Ryan BarkerĀ ofĀ Missouri Foundation for HealthĀ reported thatĀ MissouriĀ has hosted three social media chats that were very well received in the community. The first was about women’s health and marketplace plans, the second about LGBT awareness, and the third was a partnership with CMS to provide a Spanish-language chat on Facebook for those whose primary language is Spanish.

IllinoisĀ became the first state to air a paidĀ advertisement featuring a gay coupleĀ to encourage consumers to enroll in health coverage. The decision came in an effort to raise awareness about affordable options for the LGBT community.

The need for financial assistance in buying health coverage remains high, saysĀ FloridaĀ Covering Kids & Families’ Jodi Ray. ā€œOur numbers show that that the tax credits and cost-sharing opportunities are really having an impact on individuals’ access to health coverage.ā€

Tax penalty becoming part of the conversation with consumers

Now is the time some states are pulling out the ā€œtax penalty card.ā€ With only 10 days left, enrollment experts are reminding consumers that if they don’t have health coverage, they will owe a penalty when theyĀ file their taxes. ā€œNow we’re changing the language we have on our website,ā€ saysĀ Phelan, ā€œurging consumers to enroll, with a sense of urgency, before they get fined.ā€

Coordinating with health insurance companies to educate assisters

When the number of insurance companies on the marketplace inĀ MissouriĀ doubled this open enrollment (from three to six), enrollment experts wanted to make sure consumers got their questions answered. ā€œWe got all six [companies] to join our coalition,ā€ saysĀ Ryan BarkerĀ ofĀ Missouri Foundation for Health. ā€œThen, we invited them up on a panel we organized, and they took questions from our navigators and assisters.ā€

In-person assistance making a difference in enrollment

IllinoisĀ has already surpassed its enrollment numbers from last year.Ā PhelanĀ says much of that is due to listening to what worked and what didn’t work:

ā€œWe saw that last year, full-time navigators were enrolling more people, and the ones who were doing outreach were seeing higher enrollment numbers.ā€

As a result, she increased the number of full-time navigators in the state this year, and built more outreach into the navigator grants. Phelan also reported that CACs wanted access to the webinars and other resources provided to navigators, so her team took that into consideration. Now, CACs are included on all trainings.

Jodi Ray ofĀ Florida Covering Kids & Families’ and Michigan’s Bergquist both emphasized how important assisters are for walking people through the complex task of choosing a plan. They’re seeing consumers begin a marketplace application at home, but seek out an assister to complete it.

Supreme Court case looms over FFM states

If the Supreme Court ruling inĀ King v. BurwellĀ results in the elimination of health insurance premium subsidies on the federal exchanges, Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Services,Ā William Hazel, says their response will depend on a few factors. ā€œThe question is, how quickly can FFM states get something up and running that will qualify as a state-based marketplace?ā€

Families USA’s Executive DirectorĀ Ron PollackĀ predicts that Congress would not act quickly and chaos would ensue. ā€œWe would see those 10 million Americans receiving subsidies on the federal marketplace re-join the ranks of the uninsured,ā€ said Pollack.