NH gets the word out about health care -- with dollar signs

Source: The Telegraph, Nashua, N.迷你倉H.Dec. 31--As New Hampshire officials prepare a furious push to get people to buy health insurance before the March 31 deadline for the Affordable Care Act, they have learned a valuable lesson: Money talks."It really is all about affordability -- very, very few people are choosing not to be covered for other reasons," said Karen Hicks, project manager for Covering New Hampshire, a statewide outreach program for the new health insurance law.Covering New Hampshire has launched an updated website (coveringnewhampshire.org ) to help people understand the ACA and decide among its many options and many of the changes involved helping people interpret financial details. Hicks spoke to the media about it Monday morning to help spread the word."Focus groups ... found there was very high general awareness of ACA but very low awareness of who is helped, who is eligible for assistance," Hicks said. "We really revamped the design to emphasize financial assistance; put front and center a chart about who's eligible."Once people understand that this is a program that's largely designed for middle-class families to make health insurance more affordable, it really changes their openness to the information," she said, noting that a family of four can make up to $94,000 a year and still be eligible for lower premiums.Since the Covering New Hampshire revamp launched Dec. 26, Hicks said "a little more than 200" people have signed up for additional information. You can't buy insurance through the website; that must be done through healthcare.gov or via a licensed broker."Traffic has been substantial, given when we launched" and the lack of publicity, she said.That's not to say that everything is ready, however. For example, the state's Insurance Department has not yet updated and verified the list of insurance brokers who have met the requirements of the ACA for helping people buy health insurance.This is a problem because t自存倉e state is pushing to get small businesses -- those with 50 or fewer employees -- to buy insurance for their employees or help them buy it themselves, and business owners are used to dealing with agents and brokers for insurance rather than figuring it out on websites. An online program called SHOP that was supposed to help small businesses make decisions has been delayed until next fall.After the stumble-footed start to the website healthcare.gov, the federal health care marketplace is picking up steam: The administration says that more than 1.1 million Americans had signed up for an insurance plan through the federal health care marketplace since Oct. 1, and more than 975,000 of them, or 88 percent, enrolled in December.Despite that increase, the number of enrollees is only about one-third of initial targets.About 150,000 people in New Hampshire have no health insurance.In New Hampshire, Anthem Blue Cross offers 11 health insurance options that are eligible for lower premiums or lower out-of-pocket costs, depending on your income -- although one of those, the low-cost "catastrophic" option, is only available to people younger than 30.By March 31, virtually all Americans, with a few exceptions, must have health insurance or they will face penalties. The penalty is only $95 per person the first year, but increases quickly in subsequent years.New Hampshire has a $1.9 million budget covering the open enrollment period through the New Hampshire Benefits marketplace, a partnership with the federal and state government.Aside from the website, Hicks said the program will be buying a variety of ads, including direct mailing, and holding forums throughout the state.___David Brooks can be reached at 594-6531 or dbrooks@nashuatelegraph.com. Also, follow Brooks on Twitter (@GraniteGeek).Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Telegraph (Nashua, N.H.) Visit The Telegraph (Nashua, N.H.) at .nashuatelegraph.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉出租