Outreach & Enrollment

A man in a white coat, presumably a doctor, is smiling while holding a stethoscope to his ear. An orange circular frame partially surrounds the image.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed to provide millions of uninsured Americans with health insurance coverage. It created new competitive private health insurance marketplaces that provide millions of Americans and small businesses with access to affordable health insurance coverage. Through the Marketplace, eligible individuals are able to receive premium tax credits and cost sharing reductions to help with the cost of insurance coverage.
 
Medicaid in West Virginia was expanded in 2013 and has a two-step process to expand enrollment. The Marketplace makes the eligibility determination and the Bureau for Medical Services enrolls individuals and families that the Marketplace has found eligible. Medicaid expanded eligibility to cover people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level. West Virginia Medicaid previously only served pregnant women, children, very low-income families, and disabled and elderly populations. The ACA added adults between 19 and 65 and former foster children.

Our Role
West Virginia Health Centers play a vital role in the education and enrollment of the uninsured population within our state. As of the 2014 federal UDS report, health centers provided services to 47,197 uninsured West Virginians. HRSA recently provided $150 million in grant awards to 1,159 Health Centers. These awards began HRSA’s ongoing commitment to support health centers in helping uninsured patients and others in their approved service areas gain access to affordable health insurance coverage through the Marketplace, Medicaid, or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
 
WVPCA O&E ListServ
The O&E ListServ was developed to assist people working on outreach and enrollment within health centers. The ListServ provides a means for the WVPCA staff to forward important information and, more importantly, it is a way for those of you doing this work to share your questions and experiences.

For more information about Outreach and Enrollment or to be added to the WVPCA O&E ListServ, contact Ruby Piscopo at 304-346-0032.

Resources

Assisters

Consumers

  • HealthCare.gov is a health insurance exchange website operated under the federal government, designed to serve the residents of the thirty-six U.S. states that opted not to create their own state exchanges. The insurance exchange offers private health insurance plans to US residents, like you.

  • This tool educates insurance consumers in West Virginia. In order to use it, navigate through the various tabs. Each tab covers a different aspect of insurance. Some tabs contain links to websites, while others will have documents you can review.

  • Legal Aid of WV

    The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or "VITA" for short, helps people do their taxes and get their refund, free of charge. There are over 100 VITA sites in West Virginia, across all 55 counties.

  • WV SHIP

    SHIP stands for "State Health Insurance Assistance Program," and its goal is to provide reliable and up-to-date information to Medicare beneficiaries and their families. It also serves as an interactive resource for SHIP and SMP counselors from around the state to utilize for updates and training.

  • Short-Term Limited Duration Health Plan (also has a checklist of questions to ask when purchasing health insurance)

    Using Your Health Plan