Health Care seminar at Linwood library to help folks sign up for health insurance

The deadline to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is coming up fast. A group of health insurance assistors will be at the Linwood library near Snowshoe this Thursday to help navigate the ins and outs of finding the right plan for you. Health care navigator Jeremy Smith explains.

“So this Thursday between 10 and 4, there’s going to be a group of assistors” , said Smith. “that’s going to be available all day for anybody in the community that needs help understanding their options with the Affordable Care Act or even needing help signing up for a health insurance plan, so it’s just a great opportunity for people who might have questions or are still a little bit confused about the new health care law. This is a great opportunity to get free one on one help and actually get help enrolling in a health insurance plan.”

Mr. Smith advises that you should bring current income information with you to the Linwood Library since you will be asked to estimate your 2015 income. This includes your last year’s tax forms and current pay stubs. You should also know your entire family’s social security numbers and birthdates. That should be all you need to bring. It is simpler than ever this year to sign up and you will receive assistance from trained, certified and experienced assisters. Last year a steady flow of people received this help at the Opera house in Marlinton as well as at the Linwood Library, however this year the assistance will only be offered at the library.

“This is a really important event because the deadline is actually coming up because the deadline is coming up to enroll,” said Smith, “the last day of open enrollment for 2015 is February 15th. So, if you don’t sign up before February 15th, people won’t be able to sign up and get coverage until 2016. The deadline is fast approaching and we definitely wanted to come to Pocahontas County in order to help people.”

“If somebody doesn’t enroll in health insurance for 2015, they may face a penalty when they go to file their taxes. If you go the whole year without having health insurance the penalty could be $325.00 per person or 2% of their income, whichever is greater, so it is important that everyone sign up for some sort of health insurance.”

And, Mr. Smith adds that there is help available to assist you in paying for your health insurance.

“A lot of people don’t understand that there are a lot of new subsidies that can help you pay for health insurance,” he said. “And the great thing about these subsidies is you don’t have to wait for the entire year to get them back, you can actually apply to get monthly help. Last year the average the average tax credit that West Virginia families were able to get was about $300 per month to help them pay for health insurance. If they want to come in we can help them learn if they are eligible to receive the subsidies and about how much they can get.”

Again this help with enrolling for health insurance will be available at the Linwood Library this Thursday, February 29, 2015, from 10am to 4pm.

Story By

Heather Niday

Heather is our Program Director and Traffic Manager. She started with Allegheny Mountain Radio as a volunteer deejay. She then joined the AMR staff in February of 2007. Heather grew up in the Richmond, Virginia, area and now lives in Arbovale, West Virginia with her husband Chuck. Heather is a wonderful flute player, and choir director for Arbovale UMC. You can hear Heather along with Chuck on Tuesday nights from 6 to 8pm as they host two hours of jazz on Something Different.

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