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Get Covered: Enroll America

January 14, 2016 • By

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

Last Updated: August 19, 2021

Prescription form clipped to pad lying on table with stethoscope twisted in heart shape and blue doctor uniform closeup. Medicine or pharmacy concept. Empty medical form ready to be used

The uninsured rate among African Americans remains incredibly high. According to the Urban Institute, despite historic gains in coverage during the first two Affordable Care Act open enrollment cycles, 1 out of every 10 African Americans (ages 18-64 years old) still live without healthcare coverage. Health insurance coverage increases access to quality medical care. Healthier individuals are more productive in the workplace, have more stable personal lives, and are less likely to pay huge out of pocket healthcare costs.

We need to connect the remaining uninsured people with the information and resources they need to get covered and thrive.

With this in mind, Enroll America’s Get Covered Academy empowers partners through training to reach more people within the uninsured community. The Get Covered Academy helps organizations expand enrollment efforts and foster a long lasting culture of enrollment nationwide.

Enroll America developed the Get Covered Connector, a free, easy-to-use online scheduling tool that connects individuals with a local expert for free, objective, in-person assistance to help them get coverage. In fact, consumers who received individualized, in-person help were 60 percent more likely to complete their application compared with those who tried to enroll online without help.

Enrollment experts can answer questions and help families explore the options available to them. Consumers can be sure they’re enrolling in a plan that meets their needs and budget. One huge obstacle preventing African Americans from enrolling in a healthcare plan is a lack of information about the newer plans and affordable health insurance choices. For example, many consumers don’t know that there’s financial help available to lower the cost of their monthly premiums, making coverage more affordable.

Enroll America unveiled a new tool called the Get Covered Plan Explorer to help consumers estimate their total health care costs for the year. This tool shows whether the plans available in their area cover their prescription drugs and favorite doctors. By offering consumers a complete picture of their total health needs, the tool allows consumers to better understand their options and feel confident that they’re getting the best possible deal for their health care needs.

African Americans stand to benefit from the options available to them through the Affordable Care Act. Both the Get Covered Connector and the Get Covered Plan Explorer will serve as big steps forward in reducing the disparities in health coverage for African Americans.

For more information on Enroll America’s tools and mission please visits us at www.enrollamerica.org.

 

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  1. TINA L.

    IN NEED A REWARD LETTER SENT TO ME AND I ALSO NEED A NEW SS CARD

    • Jenna Y.

      Hi, Tina. Good news! If you need a benefit verification letter, you can view, print, and save your benefit verification letter using your personal my Social Security account.
      In regards to a new Social Security card, first, realize that you may not need a replacement card. You will rarely need to show it. Knowing the Social Security number is what is important. To see if you’re eligible to apply for a replacement Social Security card online or to learn more on the process and what documents you will need to get a card please visit our Social Security Number and Card page. Keep in mind all submitted documents must be either originals or copies certified by the issuing agency and must (unless otherwise indicated) have been issued within the last two years. We cannot accept photocopies or notarized copies of documents. Once you’ve submitted all the needed documents, it can take up to 10 business days from the date we received the application to mail a replacement card. We hope this helps.

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  3. Super B.

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  5. Rabby

    It’s really important to get this sorted out if you still have no healthcare insurance – it really does make a difference to your life. Thanks for the information here on getting insurance in the US, if you are looking for insurance for traveling or living abroad I found some information here http://www.nriol.net/visitors-insurance/looking-for-insurance-getting-a-quote-is-easy/

  6. Mitsubishi V.

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  7. Carmel O.

    I am currently employed. I will retire in April 2016. I have Part A SS, how do I sign up for Part B? I am 76 years old.

  8. Dameon R.

    First of all the issue is access to care not if they can afford it, but actually knowing where and how to receive it. Additionally a LARGE majority of AMERICANS are just uneducated on how it all works. Although it APPEARS to be more prevalent in the African American community, I have first hand knowledge that’s only an assumption, and that America as a whole is uneducated, more specifically on what “Obama Care” actually is and how it most definitely helps millions of people. Once again though, if someone has only heard about it, but not actually took the time to inquire about , nor know where to obtain the coverage, what can they do? FYI, If you only receive Social Security or Disability, which is TOTALLY different from SSI (Which btw is Supplemental Security Income and is not counted as reportable income for the purposes of obtaining healthcare via the Affordable Care Act) there are several special discounts and tax credits that can be applied and very often offset the amount of the premiums all together. If one has NO income, or make less than $16,105, then they would qualify for Medicaid and would not be responsible for any premium amounts. EDUCATION AND ACCESS TO CARE ARE VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR ALL AMERICANS, NOT JUST THE POOR BLACK ONES

  9. Machel

    I too had to let my full-time job go, with excellent healthcare coverage for my family due to illness. I had to walk away from a home because I couldn’t afford the mortgage with my SSDI payments. The SSA application is lengthy, and it seems like you wait forever for a decision, only to have them deny you. While your family ends up being homeless. I have 3 children I had to raise as a single mother. I understand that healthcare is important, but if people don’t have enough information they won’t apply. The application process has to be simplified. People don’t always know the right questions/answers to what they are seeking assistance for. The social workers and SSA employees don’t want to take the time to assist. In turn, Americans continue to go uncovered. There need to be organized drives and booths in neighborhoods where people can go to get on-hand information where they are not intimidated. What I have now is nothing compared to what I did have. All of the materialistic items are gone, but my family has made due. It is my prayer that more people apply for healthcare; not focusing on the negative for the moment; or concerned with what politicians are going to do. We need a healthier society…country.

    • Retired S.

      As a former Social Security claims representative, I can tell you that those of us who do care about assisting the public complete those lengthy disability applications correctly are often pressured by management to get the applicant away from our desks as quickly as possible. This situation causes dedicated, caring employees into stressed-out drones who are forced to do the minimal amount possible, just to keep up with an overwhelming workload which continues to grow as the SSA field office workforce continues to shrink. Congress created this by continued budget restraints on SSA, despite the fact that the agency has only spent about 1% of its budget on staffing.

      I was subjected to this type of harassment myself, from an office manager who sent pop-up messages on my computer, asking why I was spending so much time with the client in front of me. This would distract me from taking the application, forcing me to think back about all of the issues that had to be resolved during the interview and give an explanation which I knew would be dismissed anyway, because the manager just wanted us to “work it out,” in her words.

      This uncaring attitude towards employees and the public rewards those employees who get things “done” quickly, even at the expense of their clients who get denied or paid incorrectly, because of claims which are completed by ignoring time-consuming issues that should have been dealt with properly. Employees who do just enough to get by and have the right connections get promoted quickly into supervisory and management positions, then impose their shoddy work habits on those employees who still do care about the quality of their work.

      That is why I chose to retire early from a career that I loved, because they made it impossible for people like me to continue serving the public the way I had been trained, with compassion and pride in the quality of my work. SSA management now hopes most people will apply online for benefits, which means they will not have the advantage of experienced employees assisting them in making decisions about when to apply and helping them complete applications properly, in a way that will maximize their chances of getting the benefits they are rightfully due.

      Good luck American public, you will need it!

      • Nancy J.

        I have Been Disabled and Receive Medicare since 2000; But now the “”ACA/HHS.gov” is using our **Medical Health Records and **Selling Them to Researchers Globally to *Pay for The “ACA coverage!” It is Being Implemented so Doctors will be Under *Surveillence with an “App in their Electronic Health Records Submitted for Payment! So, Even though have NOT CONSENTED to allowing **My Private Health Records Used; I have No *Legal Choice?! They are also lDictating What Treatments and Medications I Should Be Precribed?!??! Too MUCH “Government Control and *OverReach into my and Others Lives And Choice Of Treatment or Medications that **Work For Each ***Individual!! **ONESIZE – DOES NOT Fit ALL!?!bb -m FEDUP!

  10. Jerry

    If you are middle income with a lot of debt you are either forced to buy insurance you can not use because of the cost and high deductables of pay a fine for not getting something that is no good for you. Great healthcare plan!!!!

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