One month remains to enroll in a health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act. Andrea Thomas works for SEARHC providing outreach and enrollment services free to Sitkans. She says this year is the shortest enrollment period to date, and time is of the essence.
“For people who are uninsured, this is your window of opportunity to sign up for insurance on the marketplace,” says Thomas. “There’s some people who are on the marketplace already, and this is their only time to renew. If you miss that opportunity, you’re really out of luck until next year.”
According to Thomas, this year is a bit different. Not only is the sign up period shorter, but plan prices have gone down for Alaskans.
“The state of Alaska worked with the federal government to do a waiver,” says Thomas. “We had a group of very expensive people and they pulled those people out, paying for them in a different way which has dropped the cost of insurance down 26 to 30 percent.”
Thomas’s office is federally funded and they’ve added Saturday hours for the open enrollment period.
“There’s something really helpful with speaking to somebody local and we’re really familiar with the plans that are offered, and we can share information about how to use your coverage, and we can help you after your coverage, because people run into all kinds of problems too, after the fact,” says Thomas.
Open enrollment ends on December 15. You can find more information on how to contact Thomas’s office here.
