Group helps decipher insurance issues

The health insurance marketplace can be difficult to navigate and even once insured, many people find it difficult to understand their coverage. Luckily, Nevada Health Link and its partners are making it a priority to provide resources for those in need of assistance.

A representative from Consumer Assistance and Resource Enterprise will be available free of charge every Monday at Emergency Aid of Boulder City, 600 Nevada Way, as well as every first and fourth Tuesdays at the Senior Center of Boulder City, 813 Arizona St., to help local residents navigate their health care options.

All information sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to noon with Randall Downey, a health care specialist from CARE NV, and anyone who needs health insurance or feels uncertain about their coverage is encouraged to come in and ask questions.

“We can’t enroll people on the premises, but there are a lot of people who don’t yet have insurance that may still be eligible to enroll even though we are no longer in an open enrollment period,” Downey said. “And there are just as many people who have secured insurance but really don’t understand what they’re dealing with.”

Though the open enrollment period ended on Jan. 1, residents are always able to sign up for Medicaid if they fall within the income threshold, and many others may still be eligible to sign up at prorated costs.

According to Downey, those who have lost a job or previous insurance, or experienced a life-changing event such as the birth of a child or moving from another state, are not required to wait until the end of October for the open period.

In addition to those who are still without insurance, CARE NV is attempting to help those who may have only recently become insured for the first time since being required to do so by the Affordable Care Act.

“Health literacy is a struggle for many in Nevada and many people don’t yet understand the parameters of their coverage,” Downey said. “We are here to help people understand their charges and the intimidating amount of paperwork. If someone has insurance, they just need to bring their card with them and we’ll help them find providers while staying in network so they can see their doctor on a regular basis. We want to figure out what is right for you.”

CARE NV is a nonprofit organization that has partnered with Nevada Health Link, and though the representative is unable to do enrollments on site, those who are eligible to enroll can find further assistance through certified navigators and brokers, using a zip code search at https://www.nevadahealthlink.com/.

For more information about the CARE information sessions, call 702-836-9033 or visit http://www.carenv.org/.

Contact reporter Hunter Terry at hterry@bouldercityreview.com or call 702-586-6711. Follow him on Twitter @HunterBCReview