More than 32600 El Pasoans signed up for 'Obamacare'

Posted: 09/28/2014 07:31:11 PM MDT

The first official figures recently released by the federal government show that 32,626 El Pasoans signed up for health care coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace during the first enrollment period.

'It's great news that more than 32,000 got covered in El Paso through the Health Insurance Marketplace, but our work here is far from over,' said Mimi Garcia, state director of Get Covered America.

The Affordable Care Act, which some refer to as 'Obamacare,' makes it mandatory for Americans to have health care insurance or face increasing financial penalties each year.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released detailed figures for marketplace enrollments.

REPORTER

Diana Washington Valdez

El Paso County had the sixth-largest enrollment of all the major urban counties in Texas, the report shows. Harris County (Houston) had 137,649 enrollments; Dallas County (Dallas) 83,420; Bexar County (San Antonio), 61,577; Tarrant County (Fort Worth), 61,369; and Travis County (Austin), 42,547.

Nearly 734,000 people in Texas enrolled by the deadline this past spring; and nationally, about 8 million Americans signed up for a health insurance plan. Texas had the third-highest number of enrollments through the marketplace, after California and Florida.

Although glitches with the HHS website for enrollments caused delays and led to nationwide frustration with the system, problems were fixed, officials said. The experience gained with the first enrollment should lead to a smoother process this time, said Jose Medrano, Get Covered America's regional organizing coordinator for the Texas border region.

'According to the U.S. Census, Texas continues to have the largest number of uninsured residents in the country (6 million), and this means we still have a long way to go,' Medrano said. 'We did end up with more than 733,000 new Texans with coverage, and the eligibility process also helped to identify 83,000 Texans who qualified for Medicaid. Our coalitions are out in force educating, engaging and helping more people to enroll in affordable health care plans.'

There's still a long way to go in El Paso: Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, said 180,000 El Pasoans lacked health care insurance.

'With the next open enrollment period right around the corner, we'll be working nonstop with our partners in the Enroll El Paso collaborative to make sure that area residents get covered and stay covered,' Garcia said.

The next enrollment period begins Nov. 15, and Project Amistad is ready to start helping people in West Texas navigate through the system to find plans that they are eligible for and can afford, organization spokesman Roy Ortega said.

Ortega said Project Amistad expects a continuous flow of people seeking help because there won't be as many remote locations providing assistance as last time.

'Overall funding is less, and our own funding was cut by 15 percent, but we have the trained and experienced navigators who can help,' Ortega said.

In addition to helping people with new enrollments, Garcia said Get Covered America also plans to make sure those who enrolled know how to keep or renew their health insurance.

People are considered covered if they have Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, COBRA, VA health coverage, TRICARE, private insurance, a job-based plan, or other forms of health care coverage.

Consumers can buy a plan outside the Health Insurance Marketplace, but won't qualify for tax credits or lower out-of-pocket costs for insurance based on income.

Anyone who doesn't have coverage in 2014 will have to pay a fee of either 1 percent of their income, or $95 per adult ($47.50 per child), whichever is higher, according to www.healthcare.gov. The fee will be paid on 2015 income taxes.

Ortega said assistance to consumers is provided free of charge at Project Amistad.

People in West Texas may call for information at 915-298-6997 or (877) 413-2372 or visit projectamistad.org or healthcare.gov/.

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at 546-6140.