Officially, the open enrollment period in the health plans of the Affordable Care Actalso known as HERE or obamacare, ended on January 31. And yet, due to the exceptional circumstances created by the public health emergency, for now people will be able to continue to enroll in plans covered by HEREor changing plans in some cases, although there will be changes in the enrollment requirements of three of them.
“This extension covers registrations in Child Health Plus, Medicaidhe Essential Plan and the Qualified Plans”, expands Liliana Melgar, Senior Director of Health Operations for the Hispanic Federation. “And, of course, our federation will continue to assist our community with enrollment and plan change processes, as it has done virtually since it was first implemented. HERE”.
To get help from specially trained Federation staff, all it takes is a simple phone call to our toll-free, bilingual hotline at 1-833-656-2626. Through that call, they will be able to find out about the health plans for which they qualify and, with the help of our advisors, start the enrollment process.
“Although registration is still open for all programs until further notice,” clarifies Liliana Melgar, “registration requirements are changing for three of them: Child Health Plus, Medicaid and the essential plan. People who already have health insurance under one of these three plans should be aware, because the modifications could affect their eventual recertification. They should be attentive to the messages, letters and renewal packages of their health plans that they receive, and carefully follow all the instructions that are sent to them”.
For those who have not yet taken advantage of the opportunity it offers HEREI remind you that this is an initiative that since its launch during the presidency of Barack Obama, in March 2010, has greatly benefited our community.
Three years after the effective date of the Affordable Care Act, less than one in three Latinos had an individual or family health plan. Four years later, the rate of Latinas and Latinos without health insurance had dropped to less than one in five. More recently, between 2020 and 2022, the number of members of our community who enrolled in plans contemplated by HERE increased from 1.7 to 2.6 million. A respectable number of them, with the collaboration of our federation.
But in order for us to help them join HEREyou must take the first step and call the toll-free and bilingual line that I already gave you, at 1-833-656-2626.
“And when they call,” our Senior Director of Health Operations concludes, “they should have some form of identification, your address, your social security number, phone number, and income information on hand.”
If you need more information about the Hispanic Federation and its organizations, call (866) 432-9832 or visit www.hispanicfederation.org.
Celebrate our 33rd anniversary with us, and see you in the next column!
Frankie Miranda is the president of the Hispanic Federation