The head of the Department of Health and Human Services made two stops in Atlanta on Friday as part of a push to increase Obamacare enrollment in Atlanta and the state, where the number of eligible but uninsured black Americans is the highest in the country.
HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell visited the Iwi Fresh Garden Day Spa in southwest Atlanta first, talking to navigators who help consumers enroll on HealthCare.gov. She asked them what problems people face with the Obamacare process.
David Branch, who works for InsureGA.org, had a simple word for Burwell: jargon.
“They don’t understand it,” Branch told Burwell.
Burwell responded that HHS has been working on simpler language and that the HealthCare.gov marketplace listened when consumers complained that the eligibility letter had to be opened in a separate PDF file. That’s been fixed, she said.
Burwell also listened to several consumers, among them Gwen Morgan, 54, of Covington. She has insurance for herself but is worried about what will happen to her 25-year-old son, Jamel Lockhart, when he turns 26 and is bounced off his father’s insurance plan.
Particularly troubling: Lockhart has sickle-cell anemia and just spent two weeks in the hospital, Morgan said.
Burwell told Morgan to explore two options — enrolling her son during the current open enrollment period, which ends Jan. 31, 2016, or waiting to enroll him in April 2016, when Lockhart turns 26. At that time, he would be eligible for a special enrollment period because he will lose his insurance.
Burwell’s message was consistent throughout her 40-minute southwest Atlanta visit and during her stop at a “storefront” enrollment center on Luckie Street in downtown Atlanta. Her point: Make sure consumers know about financial help, and make sure they know they can get assistance online or in person.
“More than seven in 10 returning customers can find a plan for $75 or month or less in premiums,” Burwell said.
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