06
November
2014
|
23:58 PM
America/Chicago

Help MHM Enroll San Antonio with EnrollSA

image2By Andy Hernandez, Community Development Manager

For those who lack the means to obtain health insurance, being able to do so is a life-changing event. Health insurance provides not only health security, but economic security as well. Many of us are fortunate enough to have an employer-sponsored health insurance plan, but I would like you to take a moment to consider what your life would look like without it. It might look something like this: our lives would be less financially secure; our health care options more limited; and our long-term prospects for living a vital and productive life, more compromised.

The next enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will take place Nov. 15, 2014 through Feb. 15, 2015. This period gives us a window of opportunity to help connect others to the Health Information Marketplace where many affordable healthcare plans are available. Being able to afford health insurance is transformational – it transforms the “underserved” to the “served.”

Your network is broad, as is the need

The one-to-one contacts, conversations and touches we have on a daily basis with our clients and community residents are considerable. Converting our touches into short discussions about the ACA can go a long way in building a prospective list of persons who might benefit from the ACA.

Beyond that, we each have family, friends and neighbors who might be eligible to enroll. If we use our personal “circles of influence” to have conversations with family and friends about the need for, and the opportunity to have, affordable health insurance not only are we are living our mission of “Serving Humanity to Honor God,” we are being good friends and neighbors. If each Methodist Healthcare Ministries employee could identify two persons who are interested and might be eligible, that’s over 600 potential enrollees!

How you can help

It’s a simple process, really. First, you ask someone their annual income to determine if they make too much or too little to enroll. Don’t worry, I will provide you with an income chart that will quickly tell whether someone qualifies. If it appears, based on this preliminary information, that someone might be eligible you provide him or her with an EnrollSA card to complete and return to you. The card is then returned to EnrollSA, a San Antonio-based coalition of healthcare professionals. A trained staff or volunteer member will then follow up with this individual to work with them to identify healthcare options available to them through the Healthcare Insurance Marketplace. That’s it. That’s all we have to do.

Get started

If you are interested in making a difference and connecting those in need to the healthcare they deserve, email me. I’ll provide you with assistance cards and give you some helpful tips. And we’ll do it pronto!