The California Endowment teamed up with the Service Employees International Union- United Healthcare Worker West to host a “We Connect” event at the Sacramento Convention Center to enroll local residents in new Covered California Affordable Care Act health plans. While the production of the event was fairly glossy and festive, like many aspects of enrolling in the new ACA plans through Covered California there were many frustrations and challenges for attendees and volunteers
Don’t turn away volunteers
Shortly upon my arrival at the Sacramento We Connect event to help people enroll in Covered California health plans I was informed that the agent side of the website was down so I couldn’t help. I looked at the young man and said, “The agent dashboard has never worked. That doesn’t prevent me or any body else from helping a family enroll in a health plan.”
Greater purpose
Obamacare cheerleaders were leading the crowd in chants.
The agent’s side of Covered California website has never been operable from first day of launch on October 1st. If I am to make a commission from health insurance sales thought CC, it has to work someday. But if a person’s sole purpose is to make money from a government sponsored program, I suggest they hit the road and don’t look back. Frankly, we don’t need enrollment assistance from people who put money before people.
What’s your motivation?
In the short period I was at the We Connect event I helped two families and one gentleman enroll in health plans. All these households had working parents. They put in as many hours as their employer or business will allow. A 40+ hour work week is not uncommon for some of these people, and yet, the cost of health insurance coupled with prescription medications is too expensive for the family budget. In January 2014, they’ll be able to afford both insurance and prescription medications for their families with the new plans. Does anybody need any more motivation than helping their neighbor secure affordable health insurance?
Kaiser representative explains the health plans to a We Connect attendee in Sacramento.
The best laid plans…change
There were plenty of volunteers that arrived early at the Sacramento Convention to lend their assistance for the proverbial task of filling and passing sand bags to keep the health care flood waters from drowning any more of their neighbors. Unfortunately, there was a little too much institutional and bureaucratic arrogance on the part of some of the organizers to admit they needed help. Many volunteers were sent home early before the organizers realized they could use their help after all.
There were numerous comments and suggestions from the various participants on how to improve the next event.
Too few enrollment counselors
- An hour before the event was scheduled to end; people waiting in line had to be informed they would NOT have the opportunity to enroll.
- Why did the organizers encourage so many people to attend without knowing if they had the necessary enrollment resources?
More pre-enrollment preparation work
- Have attendees fill out as much of the paper application as possible making the online data entry quicker
- Review the various health plans with people so less time is spent deciding on a plan while at the end of the enrollment process
- Most people were unfamiliar with the opportunity to enroll online, fill out a paper application or get assistance near them.
- For those who didn’t have time to wait, sit down with them and help them fill out the paper application.
- Remove any Personal Identifying Information from pre-enrollment paper work like Social Security numbers unless there is a shredder nearby to destroy if it is left behind.
- The venue was festive but too loud. It was hard to have conversations or properly enter data into the computer.
Healthcare is in crisis
In the event of a natural disaster, everyone puts their talents, skills and resources to use for the good of the whole community. It might be heavy equipment operators moving earth, people passing out water, or computer techies connecting missing people together…all for no monetary reimbursement. The United States is at a crisis point with the inaccessibility of affordable health insurance and health care in America. If people with the skills and resources to help people enroll in ACA plans avoid that community task because they won’t get paid for their time, they are part of the problem and not the solution.
Division of labor
All of these events are a work in progress. Successful events capitalize on an organizer’s ability to be adaptable to the situation at hand. The reality on the ground is that anyone can fill out the online enrollment form. The Covered California CalHEERS website presents some technical challenges that someone with a little background in computers can overcome.
The most daunting part of the application is
- Estimating monthly income
- Navigating immigration documents
- Explaining the different health plans, deductibles, copays, coinsurance, etc.
Maximize resources and knowledge
One model might deploy several folks that can help families and individuals create a Covered California account and enter the basic information for the household. There could be several Certified Enrollment Counselors or Certified Agents floating around to help answer any income, immigration or health plan information. In this manner, the knowledge of the Certified personal is maximized to the greatest extent and a greater number families would get enrolled in a shorter amount of time.