Bay Area Non-profit Gears Up For ACA Deadline.

 

As the open-enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) approaches its deadline of March 31, more community agencies are playing a role to assist people with enrolling for health coverage.

 

Project LINK, a West Tampa community-based agency whose focus is providing targeted case management and linkages to help children and their families navigate to services they need to improve their quality of life, have become one of many community support organizations in the bay area now enrolling residents for health coverage through the Marketplace.

 

"To ensure that no eligible residents are left behind, as we move forward towards affordable healthcare, we felt compelled to increase our commitment to the community advocating for enrolling,” said Tina Young, Executive Director. “ I believe in increasing access to affordable, quality insurance. The Affordable Care Act will allow many residents to have coverage for the first time in their lives.”

 

Nearly 4 years ago, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, expanding access to affordable health care to millions of Americans, reducing long-term costs of health care and providing critical protections for patients.

 

According to ACA guidelines, only those uninsured individuals whose income is between 134 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $11,490 for an individual and $23,550 for a family of four, will be eligible for purchasing subsidized insurance plans on the Marketplace.

 

The federal program will provide subsidies on a sliding scale, depending on income, that will average more than $5,500 per family. To qualify for subsidies, annual wages must range from $11,490 to $45,960 a year for an individual, and from $23,550 to $94,200 a year for a family of four.

 

“We’ve been training members of our staff on how to assist people with the enrollment process, and how to encourage people to seek information and to understand the process.” further states Tina Young.

 

For more information on receiving assistance, or finding a location near you, please call Project LINK at (813) 276.5671