It is almost March 31st

The March 31^st deadline looms. Connie and I have helped a few dozen people with the application process for healthcare. We have seen a bit of everything – those who qualify for great insurance at an affordable price; those who leave in tears because even this insurance is not “affordable” in their reality; those whose identity can’t be verified because they have never taken out a loan or had a credit card; those who qualify for a good subsidy, but because they smoke, it doesn’t cover the cost of the premium for healthcare. Literally, a little bit of everything.

There are those who believe all the negativity and have decided that they do not want health insurance, including one young woman who is going to be facing surgery to remove her gallbladder. She won’t even talk to me about health insurance. I wonder how the surgeon and the hospital are going to feel about that… she would qualify for subsidies to help pay for her insurance; she and her husband both have low-paying jobs. It is possible that the hospital and the surgeon are going to expect payment, maybe even garnishee their wages. I don’t know what will happen, but it is certainly possible now that she could get insurance.

So, as I look at the calendar and see March 31 is a few days away, I think about our experience here. We have seen very few individuals… partly because we didn’t become a Certified Application Counselor Designated Organization until almost December (even though we applied in August). We were a couple of months behind when we started. The healthcare.gov website had more than its fair share of problems. And, many of the patients we see here at the clinic will qualify for Michigan Medicaid once that program is open… which, disappointingly, will NOT be until after the first of April.

One of my frustrations is that Medicaid won’t open until after the deadline to apply for healthcare in the Marketplace. I think there is a process we can use if people thought they would qualify for Medicaid and don’t, but I am not sure how that will work.

We have spread the word via the newspaper and radio station that we are assisting with applications, so we get a few calls that way. Most of the people we have seen are former or current patients of the clinic.

Six months seemed like a long time for an open enrollment, but it hasn’t felt like much time at all. We have had so much to learn and so much to teach. People have been reticent to enroll, partly because of all the negativity.

I hope that the Medicaid enrollment will be smoother. I hope we are successful in helping people enroll in the program – and have real access to healthcare.

In the meantime, we are still here, still helping people with access to the necessary healthcare services and medication.