FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Date: Feb. 15, 2021
Contact: William Lineberry, Marketing & Communication Manager
Enroll Virginia, 804-366-3531 or william@vplc.org

Enroll Virginia is hosting a town hall, press conference tomorrow that will include state and federal leaders who will discuss what the Marketplace reopening means for Virginians

Richmond, Va.-

The federal Affordable Care Act Marketplace (HealthCare.gov) reopened today for a new three-month Open Enrollment period under executive order from President Biden.

The new Open Enrollment gives Virginians without health coverage a new opportunity to enroll in a plan through the ACA and protect their health amidst a global pandemic. More than 90,000 Virginians have lost health insurance due to job losses since the pandemic began last March. Before the onset of the pandemic, already more than 650,000 Virginians were without any form of health coverage. The new Open Enrollment period will run through May 15.

“Starting today, uninsured Virginians have a second chance to find affordable health coverage through the Affordable Care Act,” said Deepak Madala, program manager of Enroll Virginia. “If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that knowing your health is covered is more important now than it ever has been.”

To raise awareness and answer questions around the new Open Enrollment and what it means for Virginians, Enroll Virginia is hosting a virtual town hall and press conference tomorrow (Tuesday, February 16) at 10:30 a.m.

The speakers for the press conference are: Holly Mortlock, Senior Policy Advisor for the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources; Victoria Savoy, Director of the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange; Deepak Madala, Program Manager for Enroll Virginia; and Sinsi Hernández-Cancio, Vice President for the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Enroll Virginia encourages all media receiving this release to attend. A Q&A will follow the speakers. To register as a member of the press (required), click here. The event will be livestreamed to the public through Enroll Virginia’s Facebook page, facebook.com/enrollva.

Help is available to all Virginians seeking to enroll during the current Open Enrollment. Enroll Virginia’s team of federally-certified navigators, and other navigators and assisters are available in communities across the state to help individuals and families understand their options, answer questions, determine if financial assistance is available and enroll in coverage.

If an individual does not qualify for Marketplace coverage, they might qualify for Medicaid. Since the beginning of the pandemic more than 160,000 Virginians have enrolled in Medicaid (41,000 of those being children). Medicaid enrollment is year around. Navigators can help determine if individuals are Medicaid eligible and help individuals apply for coverage.

Enroll Virginia, a community-based organization, provides free, unbiased assistance to all Virginians seeking to enroll in health coverage through the ACA or Medicaid/FAMIS. All assistance is available in a virtual, contact-less setting via Zoom. Consumers may contact Enroll Virginia’s staff by calling, 1-888-392-5132 and entering their zip code to be directly transferred to a navigator in their community. Consumers can also visit Enroll Virginia’s website: https://www.enrollva.org/get-help/ where they can find local assisters and schedule an appointment with a local navigator.

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Enroll Virginia (a project of the Virginia Poverty Law Center) is supported by the Virginia State Corporation Commission and the Virginia Health Benefit Exchange, in accordance with the provisions of Va. Code § 38.2-6513(B). The contents provided are solely the responsibility of the authors.