City to prepare for insurance changes

On any given day, 561,000 Hoosiers are without health insurance, according to the Family and Social Services Administration’s website.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2014, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates that all Americans have health insurance. Those who do not purchase some form of insurance will be penalized with a fee.

Beginning Oct. 1, enrollment will begin for Indiana’s health insurance marketplace. The marketplace will serve as a vehicle for uninsured individuals who do not qualify for Medicaid to purchase insurance. Coverage under these new plans begins Jan. 1, 2014.

Indiana has opted for a federally operated insurance exchange program. The details of how exactly this program will work are unclear, Bloomington Health Projects Coordinator Nancy Woolery said.

To help prepare for the changes that are coming under the new system, Woolery has created Bloomington’s Affordable Care Act Committee.

“Our goal is to enroll as many people as we can in the affordable insurance marketplace and help people avoid the penalty fee for being uninsured,” Woolery said.

The committee includes representatives from the Monroe County Health Department, Ivy Tech, IU Health Bloomington, insurance agencies, IU Health Bloomington Hospital, the South Central Community Action Program and other community groups.

“The Affordable Care Act is bringing changes for everybody,” said Penny Caudill, administrator for the Monroe County Health Department. “We will have to adapt and acclimate as the new system changes and unfolds.”

The Health Department will not be working to actively enroll people in the insurance marketplace because of their limited staffing resources, Caudill said.

“As it becomes clearer how the system will work, we will be working to educate the public and disseminate the necessary information,” Caudill said.

Woolery said because Indiana refused Medicaid expansion, many people who would have been insured under Medicaid need to find other means of insurance.

Instead of expanding Medicaid in Indiana, Gov. Mike Pence is petitioning the Secretary of Health and Human Services for a three-year waiver to extend the Healthy Indiana Plan. If the program is not waived, the 40,000 Indiana residents who receive benefits from HIP will be uninsured at the year’s end.

Those using the health insurance marketplace depends largely on whether the HIP program is extended or not.

Woolery said she expects people who work part-time without benefits or people who want an alternative to employer-provided benefits to be the main groups who enroll in this program.

In order to help individuals complete applications in the new marketplace, volunteers need to become certified as members of application organizations.

Woolery said the committee is exploring options to apply for grant funding that would cover the cost of certifying volunteers.

The Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are sponsoring Marketplace Navigator grants for states using a federally sponsored or state partnership program.

Four organizations in Indiana have received such grants, including United Way, which supports 2-1-1, a network of information and referral services.

The Navigator grant will aid 2-1-1 centers in providing pre-screening, information and referrals and limited facilitated enrollments for uninsured individuals in the new health insurance marketplace.

“All of Indiana, including the Bloomington area, is covered by 211,” said Barry Lessow, executive director of United Way of Monroe County. “This service enables anyone in Indiana in need of human services to have quick access to free, appropriate information by dialing 211.”

Follow Brianna Meyer on Twitter @brimmeyer.