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United Way 211 System Available to Help With Healthcare Marketplace Enrollees


Central Florida organizations working to assist with health insurance enrollment on Healthcare.gov are pooling resources to simplify things for potential enrollees. One outlet now being used is a long-standing United Way helpline.

[Heart of Florida United Way 211 coverage map]

2-1-1 is the United Way helpline that can be accessed in a 15-county section of Central and North Central Florida. It’s a 24-hour hotline which connects people with local health and human service programs.  211 Director Caree Jewell says now that the government’s online insurance market place- healthcare.gov- is working better, 211 can be a resource for people who want to enroll and for organizations working to help them.

“So our role is to make sure we’re gathering up all of the information and resources that are available in the community, around the Affordable Care Act, and make sure consumers have 24/7 access to that,” she says.

Jewell says up to 45-percent of 211 callers say they don’t have health insurance. The hotline will allow navigators and other enrollment assisters to work from a coordinated  data base that will make it easier to connect callers to educational events, assistance and one on one appointments with navigators. The 211 system also allows people to text their zip code to 898-211 to get help via text messaging. 

 

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