Council on Aging launches new website on affordable care act health insurance

Website Launch: Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Help for Western North Carolina www.acahealthcarehelp.org 

Free Health Insurance Help and Resources for the Uninsured

Visitors will find extensive resources for both uninsured and underinsured (by county and type of help such as free clinics, prescription medicine assistance, community health centers, dental and mental health services, food banks, local transportation, etc.) in the 11 WNC counties served. These free and sliding-scale options were included to support those who might be caught in the Medicaid Gap in NC and do not qualify for financial help with obtaining insurance, as well as those who cannot afford to buy insurance (even with subsidies.)

Those resources were a highly requested and continuing expansion for ACAHealthCareHelp.org, which was designed to provide visitors local information about the federal marketplace health insurance options and subsidy qualifications. Visitors to the website can book local, face-to-face appointments for help with Healthcare.gov subsidized insurance (which includes Medicaid referrals) in all of NC. Questions regarding those services can be submitted through the website, along with requests for more information to share with your community by going to acahealthcarehelp.org/contact-us/.

The Council on Aging of Buncombe County offers the ACA Navigator program in 11 Western North Carolina counties. Those counties currently include Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Henderson, McDowell, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania and Yancey. Other consortium partners also provide help in those and surrounding counties and appointments can be made with any consortium member in any NC county through the national GetCovered Connector featured at acahealthcarehelp.org/make-an-appointment/. A NC Statewide Appointment Line is also available – simply call 1-855-733-3711 to schedule an appointment for local help anywhere in NC.

Member of the NC Navigator Consortium and sponsor of the website, the Council on Aging of Buncombe County has offered Medicare counseling services for over 15 years. For the last 3 years health insurance support services to people ages 18 to 64 have also been offered through the Navigator program featured on this newly released website. Those services (like the SHIIP Medicare Counseling and Community Education) are free of charge and provided by highly trained Certified ACA Healthcare Navigators all year long.

To explore the features of this website, schedule a local appointment, ask questions, and more go to www.acahealthcarehelp.org. For questions about the Affordable Care Act services offered and how to get involved as a Volunteer Navigator or Community Leader email acahelp@coabc.org.