Despite White House and state efforts to promote the Affordable Care Act, some people still don鈥檛 have health insurance or any idea how to sign up for it.
Health Coverage Guides and Connect For Health Colorado staff assist people at a Colorado Springs King Soopers on December 9 (Photo by Connect for Health Colorado).
Take Corryn Young, a 32-year-old dental hygienist in Fort Collins, Colorado. She knows she needs to get health insurance but is a little vague on the details.
鈥淲hat my income would qualify me for, when I need to be signed up, what type of deductibles they have to offer 鈥� that kind of stuff overwhelms me,鈥� she says.
There are people available to help Young with all those questions. The White House has set aside more than a quarter of a billion dollars nationally to pay navigators to give people face-to-face help buying coverage and applying for new subsidies to make it more affordable.
There are navigators working at across Colorado 鈥� everyone from county health departments to local clinics to the state trucking association. Neighboring states Nebraska and Arizona aren鈥檛 embracing the health care law like Colorado is. They have just two navigator organizations each and about $2 per uninsured person to spend on assisters. Colorado has almost $24 per person.
But all the effort had netted about for private insurance in the state鈥檚 marketplace as of Dec. 14 鈥� only about 17 percent of the way to the state鈥檚 goal of enrolling 136,000 people by the end of March.
Navigators like Barbara Sigmon will sit down with Young and go over every aspect of her application. Colorado got some of the most to hire navigators. There鈥檚 generally a lot more in-person help available in states that are cooperating with the health care law than those that aren鈥檛.
鈥業t鈥檚 Starting To Pick Up鈥�
So there are dozens of people like Sigmon across Colorado, just waiting for people to ask for help. So far, she says business is, 鈥渟ort of hit and miss, it鈥檚 either busy or it鈥檚 pretty slow. But it鈥檚 starting to pick up and gain momentum as we do more of these outreach programs, so that people know we鈥檙e here.鈥�
Sigmon is at a table near the exit of a local supermarket in Colorado Springs. It was set up by , Colorado鈥檚 new health insurance marketplace. They have brochures and little give-away notebooks, lip balm and stocking caps with Connect for Health鈥檚 logo. Sigmon says lots of people have heard of the marketplace but don鈥檛 know about navigators.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 because all the advertising that鈥檚 going on on TV is advertising for Connect for Health website, it鈥檚 not advertising for us,鈥� she says. 鈥淓very person that I鈥檝e had come in is saying I heard about it from my mother, my brother, my friend, whatever, and there鈥檚 been a couple that come in with a newspaper.鈥�
Connect for Health is starting to bring navigators out of their offices as part of a year-end marketing tour that鈥檚 setting up tables at 20 different supermarkets and pharmacies across the state.
Just What She Needed
Corryn Young was on a break from work at the supermarket 鈥� and made the kind of connection that the government and insurers hope for. She saw the Connect for Health table with just what she needed.
鈥淚 was just getting Starbucks, but there were obviously a lot of people there interested, and I just kinda stopped and started reading, it was a perfect place to get my questions answered,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f I wanted to get signed up today, they would have walked me through it and got me signed up. I just have to go back to work.鈥�
Young made an appointment to follow up with a navigator. And Sigmon, the navigator booked several appointments for people who were glad to learn she鈥檚 there.
鈥淭hey are very confused by the Affordable Care Act. There鈥檚 so many myths out there. And especially Obamacare, they seem to think they鈥檙e being persecuted to making them have insurance and all this, so there鈥檚 a lot of confusion.鈥�
Whether or not states are taking the federal money, private groups are investing in outreach and enrollment, too. For example, the is sending volunteers to Denver neighborhoods, knocking on every door and offering people help signing up for Obamacare coverage.
This story is part of a partnership that includes聽 and KHN, with the support from the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism, a program of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism鈥檚聽.