1. Unpacking the
Affordable Care Act
AND ITS IMPACT IN GEORGIA
ELISE BLASINGAME, GEORGIA WATCH &
LAURA COLBERT, GEORGIANS FOR A HEALTHY FUTURE
2. Who We Are:
Georgia Watch
State-wide consumer advocacy
organization.
Programmatic focus areas in
healthcare access, consumer
energy, financial protection and
civil justice.
Operated a navigator program as
part of the Seedco Consortium in
OE1 and OE2.
Provided specific expertise on
complex tax filing issues related to
ACA and advanced issues with
Marketplace appeals.
Georgians for a Healthy Future
State-wide consumer health
advocacy organization
Vision: A day when every
Georgian has access to the
quality, affordable health care
that they need to live healthy lives
and contribute to the health of
their communities
Provide enrollment and post-
enrollment assistance, as well as
policy recommendations and
advocacy related to a variety of
health policy issues
3. Marketplace Basics:
Georgia has a Federally-
Facilitated Marketplace
Income between 100-400%
of the FPL were eligible to
receive an Advanced
Premium Tax Credit (APTC)
Income between 100-250%
FPL qualified for cost-
sharing reductions (less
costly; higher value plans)
6. Organizations Providing Enrollment
Assistance During OE1/OE2
65+ Certified Application Counselor Organizations
48 Navigator Organizations
Federal Grantees
HRSA Grantees
Organizations with chronic disease management focus
7. Enrollment in Georgia
ENROLLMENT OE1 ENROLLMENT OE2
316,543 541,080
During Open Enrollment 2 (2014-2015)
Nearly 9 in 10 Georgians qualified for an advanced premium tax
credit
45% re-enrolled from the previous year
Organizations with chronic disease management focus
55% were new enrollees to the Marketplace
Effectuated enrollment for OE2: 83.7% (452,815)
11. Challenges to Enrollment
Initial issues with healthcare.gov during OE1
Limited health insurance literacy among consumers
Immigrants faced language and verification issues
Confusion and political opposition to ACA hindered partnerships
Consumers who fall into the coverage gap cannot access
affordable care
12.
13. Challenges Post-Enrollment
Income and citizenship verification issues with the Marketplace
Healthcare providers denying ‘Obamacare’ plans.
Tax-filing issues related to consumers who received an excess tax
credit.
Miscommunication between health insurance providers and the
Marketplace.
14. Successes
Using a variety of local venues to conduct outreach and organize
enrollment events
Leveraging the support of existing partnerships for outreach
Developing trust with consumers
Strategic media through local outlets
VITA Tax Preparer & Seedco Navigator Debrief Grady Navigator assists recently
terminated Fulton County Employees
15. So When is Open Enrollment?
Nov. 1, 2015 Jan. 31, 2016
Nov. 15, 2014
Feb. 15, 2015
Oct 1., 2013 March 31, 2014
OE1
OE2
OE3
March 15 – April 30, 2015
TAX PENALTY SEP
April 17, 2014
16. Open Enrollment 3 (OE3)
New navigator organizations
Focus on hard-to-reach populations
Georgia: one of the top 10 markets for eligible but uninsured consumers
Atlanta: Top market for eligible, but uninsured African-Americans
Georgia-specific outreach & education materials
17. Questions?
Elise Blasingame
Director of Community Education & Financial Protection
Georgia Watch
404-525-1085
eblasingame@georgiawatch.org
Laura Colbert
Community Outreach Manager
Georgians for a Healthy Future
404-567-5016, ext. 2
Lcolbert@healthyfuturega.org
Notes de l'éditeur
Laura & Elise
Elise
Elise: During OE2, nine Georgia insurance carriers offered health plans on the
Marketplace, up from five carriers during the first open enrollment period.
Of the nine insurance carriers offering plans during OE2, three offered plans
statewide (in OE1, there was only one statewide carrier), providing both
meaningful choice for consumers throughout Georgia and healthy competi-
tion, which kept premium growth low. It should also be noted that insurance
companies typically offer more than one plan, and in some cases they offer
multiple plans within each metal tier.
Georgians for a Healthy Future surveyed navigators, community partners, and other enrollment stakeholders to assess the successes and barriers to outreach & enrollment during OE1 & OE2. Also, collected secondary data from Enroll America, HHS, and GA’s DOI.
Laura—full list of organizations found in the report.
GA was 4th highest state for enrollment
Laura: Enrollment in these ten counties comprised 58.4 percent of total enrollment in Georgia. Eight of these counties are in the metropolitan Atlanta area, and together these ten counties are home to approximately 46.5 percent of Georgia’s population. Georgia has 159 counties in total.
Laura
Light yellow is 8 companies
The dark blue grey is 3 companies.
Increased competition during OE2, as compared to OE1.
Many consumers had limited health insurance literacy
More than 2/3 of survey respondents identified low health insurance literacy as a barrier to enrollment
Immigrants faced verification and language barriers
Identity verification issues were reported as the biggest barrier to enrollment for immigrants
Key terms and concepts associated with health insurance do not translate well in other languages
Confusion and political opposition to the ACA hindered partnerships
HB 943, “Health Care Freedom Act,” passed in 2014, prohibiting state and local government agencies from operating a navigator program
This led to confusion among health departments and other government agencies about their participation in enrollment assistance
Many consumers fell into the coverage gap
Some assister organizations estimated that over half of the consumers that they worked with fell into the gap