Need help signing up for health insurance?
Contact Navigators at Thrive Allen County, 365-8128, as well as Joy Miller at Fort Scott’s Southwind Extension District office, 620-223-0332.
In 2014, a man in his fifties showed up at GraceMed Health Clinic in Wichita, asking about his options for buying health insurance.
He hadn’t bothered with coverage before. The expense proved daunting for someone running his own business.
GraceMed employee Juven Nava recalls helping the man find coverage for a monthly premium of about $20 through Healthcare.gov.
“For such a long time, the one thing that he felt he could sacrifice was health insurance,” Nava said.
And now he finally had it.
“I told him … ‘Use it. Get everything checked out. You haven’t been to a doctor in forever.’”
So the self-employed man did just that. The checkups uncovered cancer, and he began treatment.
The experience stuck with Nava, who has helped people sign up for subsidized health insurance every year since.
This year, more uninsured Kansans qualify for financial aid than before the pandemic. It’s part of a coronavirus relief law that Congress passed in March.
About 260,000 Kansans don’t have health insurance. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated in May that about 70,000 uninsured Kansans are eligible for free health plans through Healthcare.gov for 2022. Tens of thousands more can get discounted premiums, sometimes as low as $10 a month.
Because of the temporary pandemic-related changes, some people who earn more than four times the poverty level will find they qualify for subsidies.
On Monday, the annual enrollment period kicked off for people who want to buy health insurance through Healthcare.gov for 2022.
