Sign Up Now For Healthcare Through The ACA

Enrollment for health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, Marketplace Plans opened Friday.

West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, a non-profit dedicated to expanding access to high-quality health care in the state, held a press conference this week to encourage more than 100,000 uninsured West Virginians to consider enrolling.

During open enrollment, those not eligible for health insurance through Medicare, Medicaid, or employer-based insurance, may purchase insurance under ACA coverage provisions.

The non-profit’s Executive Director, Ellen Allen, said half of West Virginia’s population could pay as little as $10 monthly for health insurance.

“We want West Virginians to understand the Affordable Care Act is more affordable than it’s ever been with the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year. The enhanced tax credits have made the Affordable Care Act truly affordable for just about every American,” Allen said.

West Virginia’s enrollment in ACA plans has increased by 179 percent since 2020, according to Allen, with more than 51,000 West Virginians enrolling in 2023.

“I think we know that nothing keeps us up at night, nothing keeps West Virginians up at night, like the cost of healthcare, and with the rising cost of food, rent, childcare, too many families are left worrying about how to pay the bills, how to make ends meet, meaningful health care coverage is critical to live a productive, secure and healthy life,” Allen said.

West Virginia is one of 41 states that expanded its Medicaid program eligibility under the ACA in 2014. This expansion included coverage to nearly all adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. 

According to a 2019 West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services (BMS) report, from 2013 to 2014, Medicaid enrollment increased by more than 50 percent.

“I think it’s important for everyone to understand that the Affordable Care Act also provides for the expansion of Medicaid, which West Virginia adopted under Governor Tomblin, which was just a great move for West Virginia,” Allen said. “It allowed so many more West Virginians to qualify for health care, so the Affordable Care Act provides for that as well.”

West Virginia Navigator is a federally funded nonprofit that provides free help to individuals and families deciding which health coverage options are best for them.

Nicki Bailey, assistant director of West Virginia Navigator, attended Wednesday morning’s press conference and shared resources that her team has to assist anyone trying to sign up for health insurance through the Marketplace, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

“A lot of people find it really intimidating, really confusing, to figure out how to get health insurance on their own, and that’s where West Virginia Navigator comes in,” Bailey said. “We’re able to help through the whole process and make it as seamless and as easy as possible.”

Also at the press conference, Rusty Williams, an ACA advocate and cancer survivor spoke about his experience being diagnosed with late-stage testicular cancer in 2012. 

He said when he should have been focused on treatment, he was thrown headfirst into a financial fight for his life.

“I had just had the news dropped on me that I needed emergency surgery for a really gnarly bout with cancer, and then the first thing they want me to sort out is the finances,” Williams said. “It was the most terrifying situation I had ever been in my entire life. I don’t ever think that I’ve ever been in a position where I felt that hopeless. But I spent the next six weeks fighting trying to get coverage. I should have been fighting cancer.”

Williams explained that he was diagnosed with cancer before the ACA had been implemented, so people could still be discriminated against for having a preexisting condition.

“I was fighting bureaucrats, and after the third time I was denied, I had to have the most difficult conversation with my family that I could imagine,” Williams said. “I literally had to call a meeting in with my family and tell them, ‘Hey, they gave me months to live. This is what it is, right? We got four months. Let’s make it good.’ Fortunately, my mother was not about to accept that. She kept making calls and reaching out to anybody that would listen.”

Williams said he was then put into contact with the James “Tiger” Morton Catastrophic Illness Commission, a state program, administered through the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Human Services (DH). 

The West Virginia Legislature created the program in 1999 as “a last resort for those in dire need of medical assistance during a life-threatening illness once all other resources are exhausted.” The Commission was able to secure the health coverage Williams needed.

Shortly after he found financial assistance from the state, the first tiers of the ACA were implemented federally and Williams said his situation completely changed.

“I was able to get the life-saving treatment that I needed, and I’m a firm believer that were it not for the Affordable Care Act, and were it not for the Medicaid expansion, I would not be here today,” Williams said. “So you know, on behalf of all the West Virginians, all the Mountaineers that found themselves in my position I can’t speak highly enough for the Affordable Care Act and what it did to me. I’m just happy to be here and happy to still be able to advocate for patients.”

Williams ran as a Democrat for a Kanawha County seat in the House of Delegates in 2022 but lost to Del. Andy Shamblin, R-Kanawha. Williams currently serves as an Advocacy Specialist for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of West Virginia.

Open Enrollment will officially end on Jan. 15, 2025, but those seeking coverage as of Jan. 1, 2025, must enroll by Dec. 15, 2024.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.