Enroll America builds awareness

The Affordable Care Act, also called the ACA or Obamacare, has been law since 2010. Whether you like it or not, there’s no question that helping tens of millions of Americans get access to quality health insurance is a good thing.

In Georgia alone, nearly 2 million citizens who don’t have health coverage stand to benefit. Unfortunately, too many people still don’t know what the law means for them. For example, most Americans don’t realize that on Oct. 1, new health insurance marketplaces will open that will let uninsured and underinsured Americans shop for competitive private insurance coverage.

That’s where the non-partisan, non-profit group Enroll America comes in. Through the Get Covered America campaign, it’s working with local organizations like Georgians for a Healthy Future to build awareness. What makes Get Covered America’s effort unique is that it’s focused on working within communities to provide information. Its staff and volunteers have one-on-one conversations with consumers to provide information about the health coverage options and marketplaces.

Enroll America isn’t selling any specific plan or offering advice on what choices citizens should make. In fact, it isn’t even signing people up. That’s the job of enrollment staffers certified by the federal government and state of Georgia.

There are those in the country who have devoted themselves to keeping the millions of American living without health coverage from getting signed up in the new, quality health plans that will be available.

Americans for Prosperity, for example, is a special-interest group that opposes efforts to raise public awareness of the coverage options. This group will spend millions to attack the new health care reform, and it has already spread misinformation about the ACA to consumers trying to understand what the changes mean for them.

Americans for Prosperity also is attacking Enroll America directly in an attempt to undermine efforts by community organizations across the country to help people get the health coverage they need.

Enroll America has built a great team around the country — including right here in Georgia — and is working with a wide network of partners committed to spreading the word so consumers can make informed decisions. We hope you’ll join the effort, too, so more Georgians can have the peace of mind knowing they’re covered. For more information, visit the GetCoveredAmerica.org website.

Danté McKay is Georgia state director for Enroll America, a health care enrollment coalition. Jack Bernard, a former chairman of the Jasper County Republican Party, was the state first director of health planning for Georgia.