Frederica Freyberg:
Health coverage of pre-existing conditions became a clarion call in the midterm elections. Now we’re in the midst of sign-ups for 2019 plans in the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The deadline to enroll at healthcare.gov is December 15. Tonight we hear from Adam Van Spankeren with Covering Wisconsin. Adam, thanks for being here.

Adam Van Spankeren:
Happy to be here. Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
Despite funding cuts for navigators like yourselves, what’s the pace of people signing up for coverage?

Adam Van Spankeren:
It’s pretty frantic. We actually — to get away today, to do this, it was tough just because we have people coming in all the time. Like our navigators are very busy. We’re working six days a week, seven this last week. We’re signing people up all day. It’s hectic.

Frederica Freyberg:
How do you think it compares to years past?

Adam Van Spankeren:
So for us it’s very much–the energy is the same in terms of enrollments. The energy above us at the political level we can’t really pay attention to as navigators. We’re on the ground. We’re doing the work.

Frederica Freyberg:
Right. So how much have premiums jumped since last year when you’re taking a look at these different plans that people can choose from?

Adam Van Spankeren:
Not much, actually. This is the first year that I get to really say that. There have been different trends in the past where they fluctuated but then different market factors have controlled them. This year they didn’t jump that much. We’ve had Molina come back into the market. It’s been pretty competitive. People have seen some jumps but once we get in there and look at their income versus their tax credits, we find that people have affordable coverage and it didn’t go up that much.

Frederica Freyberg:
What has changed for consumers?

Adam Van Spankeren:
For consumers for the areas I’ve been working in, seeing, not a ton. We’ve had some people returning to us obviously and returning to the marketplace year after year and some things are very constant. And I think that actually is a pleasant surprise for them when they come in and things are the same.

Frederica Freyberg:
So what’s the number one question you hear, though, from people looking to enroll?

Adam Van Spankeren:
That’s a great question. How much is this going to cost me is a very frequent question.

Frederica Freyberg:
Yeah.

Adam Van Spankeren:
People who are new are surprised actually that they can get affordable coverage. That’s great. We’re really trying to bring in new faces and new people. People’s situations have changed coming into the marketplace for the first time and can be, again, pleasantly surprised by the coverage they’re getting.

Frederica Freyberg:
What are you hearing from people about their concerns over coverage of pre-existing conditions because that was so out there for so many months?

Adam Van Spankeren:
It’s a question that comes up but it’s easily answered. Your pre-existing conditions are covered. Nothing will change for next year. If you enroll today. You enroll during open enrollment until December 15th, nothing will change with your plan throughout next year.

Frederica Freyberg:
Incoming Governor Tony Evers, as you know, expects to be able to accept expanded Medicaid, at least during his four years. How would that change the landscape of all this?

Adam Van Spankeren:
It would be interesting. I was at the state a few years ago when they didn’t expand Medicaid and you adjust some things and people ended up in the marketplace that could have otherwise with the Medicaid expansion be on BadgerCare. We’ll see those people go and be on BadgerCare now. That will draw some people away from the marketplace, but they’ll be covered. That’s the most important thing. They’re going to have coverage for themselves. This is mostly childless adults or adults without dependent children now and they’ll be covered. And that is a very critical income gap. It’s 1 to 133% of the poverty level, which doesn’t mean a lot to regular folk but when you’re making that amount to money and trying to get by, not having to worry about coverage is huge.

Frederica Freyberg:
So if someone is looking to enroll in the marketplace, what would they need to have? How would they find you?

Adam Van Spankeren:
Sure.

Frederica Freyberg:
Some of the people you work with.

Adam Van Spankeren:
One of the easiest ways is just pick up your phone and dial 211 because 211, the United Way, they can help you connect to a local assistor like us in your area or to us directly. You can go to our website – CoveringWi.org/enroll – will take you right to our “find local help.” You put in your zip code and you can find a navigator near you, get an appointment with us. In terms of what to bring to that appointment, income, just have an idea of your income, because you’re projecting for 2019. So if you’ve got your taxes, great. W-2, great. Pay stubs, great. Or just a general idea. The most important thing is that you know your social security number so we can start the application and get it going. If you have log-in information from the past, make sure to bring that because it will go so much faster.

Frederica Freyberg:
How long does it take?

Adam Van Spankeren:
For somebody brand new, I would say we want to go through everything. We want to educate them and help them understand, not just enroll. Navigators help people understand their coverage and feel good about it. That could be an hour to an hour and a half. Somebody who’s coming back and wants to stay on the same plan, they’re super happy with it, then that could take half an hour to 40 minutes. Just to make sure we got all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Thanks very much, Adam Van Spankeren. Good luck with it.

Adam Van Spankeren:
Thank so much. Appreciate it.