People from all backgrounds sign up for ACA health insurance

Sunday was the sign-up deadline for people who want health insurance under the Affordable Care Act by March.'It's really complicated. I don't know how most people can do it on their own,' said Lindsey Mabe, who helped people sign up at the Evelyn Davis Center for Working Families.Rather than trying to answer all the questions, navigate the website and pick a plan from the hundreds of options all by themselves, people from all backgrounds came for help to sign up for health insurance Saturday.'Before it was, like, $230, and it was killing me,' said Sheri Bryson, of Des Moines. She said she didn't even try to apply on her own. Bryson has health care through her employer and is in a hurry to find a plan that better suits her family.'I have a daughter on her way to college. I need to know what we have available for her when she gets up there because she's not going to have mom to run out to the hospital with her,' Bryson said.Saturday's applicants range from Iowans who came to sign up for health insurance for the first time to insured working families who couldn't figure out how to get through the application by themselves.The volunteers were trained to help applicants find the plan that fits their needs in one sitting.Mabe helped a Spanish-speaking couple through the application.'It feels like I've been given a gift to use with a lot of knowledge that most people wouldn't be able to access on their own,' Mabe said.In 2010 it was estimated that 13 percent of adults in Polk County were uninsured.'The benefits, the flaws of the Affordable Care Act for us at the moment, (are) irrelevant. There's an opportunity for people to get covered and we want as many people to take advantage of that opportunity as possible,' said Rick Kozin, director of the Polk County Health Department.Saturday's enrollment fair in Des Moines helped 29 families. The next enrollment fair will be March 22 at the Evelyn Davis Center for Working Families in Des Moines.