Help with Affordable Care Act questions

Virginians can Get Help from the ENROLL Virginia! to Navigate the New Health Insurance Marketplace

Health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act are now open for business, and early computer problems are clearing up. For many of the uninsured in Virginia, the time has arrived to learn the options and apply for coverage. Many will need help understanding their new options and applying for tax credits that make the coverage affordable for low-income workers. The navigator program Enroll Virginia! is working to provide such aid.

ENROLL Virginia! navigators are trained and certified by CMMS to help Virginians shop for commercial health plans sold through the health insurance marketplace at

www.healthcare.gov; apply for the premium tax credit and cost sharing reduction program to reduce the cost of health coverage; and find out if they qualify for public health insurance programs like Medicaid and FAMIS for individuals, children and pregnant women with low incomes.

Navigators will also work with small businesses with fifty or less employees who are interested in purchasing health insurance for their employees through the federal small business health insurance marketplace.

ENROLL Virginia! has launched a statewide toll-free phone number at 888-392-5132 that connects callers with their local navigators, and a website at www.enroll-virginia.com to help consumers find navigators, certified application counselors, and others who can provide free one-on-one application assistance in every part of Virginia.

ENROLL Virginia! encourages all uninsured people to explore their insurance options through www.healthcare.gov. A national toll-free call center is also available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week at 1-800-318-2596 (TTY users should call 1-855-889-4325.) People who have found premiums unaffordable in the past, and people with preexisting health conditions who have been turned away by insurers, may find many affordable options.

Insurance coverage will begin on January 1, 2014, and applications in this enrollment period may be filed through March 31, 20143.

People who already have insurance will not need to apply to the Marketplace. For example, people with affordable health insurance through their work, people who currently have Medicaid, Medicare, or Tricare, and others who are satisfied with their private health insurance can keep the coverage they have.

In some cases, the working poor make too little money to qualify for the tax subsidies. The General Assembly will likely see continued efforts to seek expansion of Medicaid to provide health coverage to those people. Navigators will provide information about available safety net programs and services for Virginians who will remain uninsured and without access to health insurance coverage.

Virginia Legal Aid Society (VLAS) is a nonprofit law firm that provides legal information, advice and representation in civil cases to low-income individuals and families. Since 1977, VLAS has been the only institutional provider of such services in Central, Southside and Western Tidewater Virginia. VLAS attorneys and paralegals use legal skills to solve problems housing, access to health care, income and public benefits, family issues, consumer lending and assets. The VLAS mission is to resolve serious legal problems of low-income people, promote economic and family stability, reduce poverty through effective legal assistance, and to champion equal justice. See more at www.vlas.org.