Enrollment in the federal Healthcare Marketplace, commonly known as Obamacare, began Saturday.
The Greater Prince William Health Center Evergreen Clinic in Manassas welcomed Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell to a health insurance enrollment party held by the clinic Saturday.
This is the second enrollment period for the federal healthcare program created by the Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010.
“We want to be the center of Marketplace enrollment in prince William County. We’ve been the recipient of federal grants under the Affordable Healthcare Act, so it’s really important to do this service for the community,” said heath center director Frank Principi.
Principi said Gov. Terry McAuliffe has made more resources available to his federally qualified health center to promote the open enrollment period now through Feb. 15, 2015. More money was also provided to the clinic to double the number of enrollment counselors this year to six.
When visitors to the clinic came in Saturday, many had the option of working one-on-one with a counselor to sign up or renew their healthcare options. Translators assisted those who spoke Spanish.
About 15 computers were set up in a conference room for users who didn’t require one-on-one assistance.
“We’ve been told to prepare for various situations, like for someone who might come in with little insurance, and for someone that may have been insured for a long time and not know what to expect when enrolling in a new program,” said Emily Riley Roller, with the Virginia Community Healthcare Association.
Sylvia Burwell succeeded Kathleen Sibelius as Health and Human Services Secretary earlier this year following Sibelius’ resignation.
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