Beginning October 1, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) opened the state health insurance exchanges for business. Popularly known as “Obamacare,” the requirements of the act include an individual mandate to purchase health insurance if insurance is not available through an employer or other private purchase options.
To help people comply with Obamacare, Horn Memorial Hospital has been approved as a Certified Application Counselor (CAC) organization. Katrina Utterback is Horn’s Certified Application Counselor who will assist patients and their families in exploring options for coverage through the insurance exchange. If you would like to arrange an appointment with Katrina, please call 712.364.3311.
“What Obamacare and the new insurance exchange means can be confusing to people, even to those who work in healthcare. As the area’s hospital we know that the public will look to us to have answers to their questions. Because of that, we’ve done what we can to educate ourselves on what it all means, and thankfully we have a knowledgeable Certified Application Counselor on site to can field questions and help people navigate through all the new options,” said Chris Nichols CEO of Horn Memorial Hospital.
A number of factors – such as pre-existing conditions, health status, claims history, duration of coverage, gender, occupation, and small employer size and industry – will no longer be considered for those seeking health insurance through the exchange.
“We want to reassure Medicare beneficiaries that they are already covered, their benefits aren’t changing, and the insurance exchange doesn’t require them to do anything different,” says Julie Bataille, spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicare open enrollment starts October 15 and closes December 7, while enrollment for the new state exchanges for people 65 and under launches October 1 and runs through March.
“Horn Memorial Hospital does not sell insurance. Our Certified Application Counselor is simply here to guide you through the insurance exchange and to help you understand how tax credits can help cover the costs of insurance premiums,” Nichols stated.
