Covered California In-Person Assister Program
Covered California has gone live with their Online Assister Enrollment Entity Interest Form website. Assister Enrollment Entities are part of the In-Person Assister program being developed by Covered California to enroll individuals and families into the health insurance plans being offered through the state exchange.
The Assister umbrella
The Assister Enrollment Entities will be the umbrella organizations for the actual Individual Assisters also known as In-Person Assisters (IPA). You can become an IPA by applying through one of the Assister Enrollment Entities and then passing the background check and required training.
First step: Assister Enrollment Entities
Before Covered California can really get the IPA training going, they have to have the Assister Enrollment Entities (AEE) in place. The AEEs can be a variety of organizations that have the interest and resources to reach out to targeted populations to help enroll individuals into Covered California health plans. These might be nonprofit groups that serve specific ethnic or cultural populations, social service organizations or trade groups.
Assister Enrollment Entities must meet criteria
AEEs must also meet training guidelines, demonstrate that they can make contact with a targeted population and have the necessary structure to coordinate and organize IPAs registered underneath them. They will need to conduct public educational events, distribute impartial information and provide any referrals to Consumer Assistance Programs that may be necessary.
Registration
The new website is just to register for consideration to become an AEE. Once Covered California determines the organization meets the requirements and can handle the responsibilities of an AEE, then the process of training will begin later this summer. Organizations that support any of the 13 different languages Covered California is targeting along with groups that work with self-employed individuals would be highly valued as Assister Enrollment Entities from different webinars that have been presented on the IPA program.