Listen: Open enrollment for Healthy PA and federal marketplace

Pennsylvania is in a unique place right now when it comes to health insurance for those who are uninsured or under insured.

The second year of open enrollment through the federal marketplace under the Affordable Care Act opened on November 15 and will stay open until February 15, 2015. By all reports, unlike last year — it seems to be going smoothly.

For the first time, Pennsylvania’s alternative to the federal plan — Healthy PA — began enrollment on November 30, 2014.

The Healthy PA plan is open to Pennsylvanians between the ages of 21 and 64 with incomes at or below 133% of the Federal Poverty Level who are not eligible to receive Medicaid.

Adding to the confusion is that the state’s newly elected governor Tom Wolf wants to scrap the Healthy PA plan altogether, even though that probably won’t happen before Wolf is sworn into office in January.

Joining Smart Talk aretwo ACA navigators Lynn Keltz, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers Association and Sue Walther, Executive Director of the Mental Health Association in Pennsylvania along with WITF’s Transforming Health reporter Ben Allen.

Call the toll free number 1-855-274-5626 to schedule an appointment with a Healthcare Navigator.

Listeners may also wish to consult the Getting Covered Guide on Transforming Health, which isa multimedia project of WITF that focuses on health care changes in America. The Getting Covered Guide contains the latest information on the Affordable Care Act and Healthy Pennsylvania.

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