Supporters of the ACA are encouraging West Virginians to take advantage of open enrollment in health care

CHARLESTON W.Va. — It’s that time of year again when Affordable Care Act navigators and health care advocates are encouraging everyone to enroll in ACA Marketplace Plans, after 25 million people still don’t have the coverage they need to stay healthy to stay.

Representatives from West Virginians for Affordable Health Care were on hand with those from West Virginia Navigator to discuss the start of the Open Enrollment Season for health care benefits on Wednesday, ahead of its start date on Friday, November 1.

Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, said they understand times are tough right now for many West Virginians as rising costs have them worried about making ends meet, let alone paying for health insurance. more hopeful than ever before.

“The ACA has made health insurance much more affordable, more affordable than ever before,” Allen said.

Due mainly to inflation and rising costs, Allen says, 6%, or more than 100,000 people in the state, are still uninsured.

However, she said that with the expansion of access to the Affordable Care Act, uninsured rates have dropped significantly in recent years, and it only continues to make affordable health care available to all West Virginia families.

“That’s one thing we can count on, even in years without inflation we know health care is going to rise, but the ACA expanded health care to millions of Americans and West Virginians, and West Virginia had the largest growth of any state in the country last year,” she said.

Allen said more than 51,000 West Virginians signed up for a plan through the ACA Marketplace last year, and enrollment in the state has increased 179% since 2020.

She said the landmark legislation eliminated lifetime restrictions on health care coverage, expanded Medicaid and secured protections for millions of pre-existing medical conditions.

Rusty Williams, a Kanawha County resident and cancer survivor, also spoke at Wednesday’s open enrollment press conference. He said the ACA ultimately saved his life.

In 2012, Williams said he woke up on Mother’s Day in the most excruciating pain he had ever felt and was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer within hours.

He said he was at a loss at the time, before the ACA went into effect.

“This is before the first steps of the Affordable Care Act were implemented, so people could still be discriminated against because they had pre-existing conditions and things like that, and I was one of those people,” he said. “They basically said you need emergency surgery, this is bad, how can you pay for it?”

Williams said he spent the next six weeks fighting to get coverage when he should have been focusing solely on his battle with cancer.

He then said that when the first tiers of the ACA opened up, it essentially changed his entire situation, allowing him to get the health care he needed to live.

“I firmly believe that if it weren’t for the Affordable Care Act and the Medicaid expansion, I wouldn’t be here today, so on behalf of all West Virginians, all Mountaineers who did that. were in my position, I can’t say enough about the Affordable Care Act and what it has done for me,” said Williams.

Nicki Bailey, assistant director of the WV Navigator program, said if you don’t have health insurance through employment, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program or another program, you can find it through the Marketplace, and she encourages everyone to do that. So.

Bailey reiterates that recent changes make the plans on the Marketplace much more affordable than ever.

“In fact, 97 percent of West Virginians who signed up last year were able to receive subsidies to help lower those premiums, and about four to five qualify for plans that start under $10 dollars per month,” she said .

Bailey said and they are plans that include everything a person needs.

She said the folks at WV Navigator will talk to consumers and work with them on everything they need to know about the enrollment process, and then help them enroll in person at one of their offices around the state, over the phone or at one of their open registration events that they plan to hold.

WV Navigator is a free, nonprofit program available to all state residents that provides free healthcare enrollment assistance. You can visit them on their website or Facebook page to find an open enrollment event near you, or call them at (304) 356-5834 for assistance.

Open enrollment for ACA Marketplace benefits runs through January 15, but Bailey said if you want your coverage to start on January 1, you must enroll by December 15.

Allen adds that studies continue to show how important health insurance really is.

“You know, healthy people make for healthy communities and economies, studies confirm that healthcare improves access to care and supports positive health outcomes, including an individual’s sense of their own health and well-being.”