Grace Lutheran Church in Oak Ridge will host an open house on Saturday to provide information about getting insurance via the Affordable Care Act, sometimes called “Obamacare.”
The open house is from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday.
“Although the deadline for individuals to sign up has been extended to Dec. 23, time is getting short for those who wish to have insurance that takes effect as of Jan. 1,” a press release said.
Anyone who is interested in learning more about the new health care act is invited to attend this educational event, especially those who need to get health insurance in the new Marketplace, the release said. Both printed information and computers to get online resources will be available to those attending, as well as individual assistance.
The release said informed community volunteers will be present to make sure their neighbors have access to affordable, quality health care and accurate information about the ACA. Among them will be Jan Newsome, who has considerable knowledge of the ACA, having been trained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to be the point person for a local Champion for Coverage organization (the Anderson County Democratic Women’s Club). Furthermore, materials will be available in Spanish, and bilingual volunteers will be available to assist as needed, the release said.
The open house will feature multiple showings of a short slide show, presented by Jim Nelson. The show is based on materials from the Tennessee Health Care Coalition. Basic information on health insurance will be available for those who have never had it as well as computer access to helpful websites such as KFF.org and valuepenguin.com.
Paper registration forms for the ACA will be available as well as the 800 phone number for getting information and signing up. With steady improvements in the federal online site, healthcare.gov having been made, it is hoped that ease of enrollment will be significantly enhanced by the time of this event, the release said.
Grace Lutheran Church is at 131 W. Gettysburg Ave., in the Woodland neighborhood.
Those unable to attend the open house who are in need of assistance with the enrollment process may contact the Knoxville Area Project Access, or KAPA, and the certified navigators who serve Anderson County at (865) 531-2766.
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