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[Music]
hi i'm nikki clonti the associate
director of public outreach and
education at the state's health
connector
so the health connector is the state's
marketplace and basically we are here to
offer health insurance coverage to
individuals families and small
businesses who need access to affordable
and comprehensive coverage this
organization and programs really were
put together to help fill a gap in
massachusetts for folks who were working
in massachusetts who didn't have access
to some other type of coverage either
through employer-sponsored insurance a
partner's employer-sponsored insurance
etc this organization for over 15 years
now has been able to provide subsidized
insurance coverage as well as completely
unsubsidized commercial coverage to
people
where all individuals
can compare and contrast plan offerings
and then shop and enroll in the best
plan that meets their needs
the health connector
was able to make
the shopping experience more transparent
for consumers and over the years has
been able to improve this
my name is jeanette diroy and i'm the
regional shine director of bristol
county
applying for mass health is done
simultaneously
with health connector they use the same
website they use the same application
and so
that application can be done
online that is the fastest way to do it
and most likely the simplest way to do
that
you can do that as an individual by
creating your own accounts
or
by calling the health connector number
at 877-623-6700
or also calling mass health at
1-800-841-2900
they will go through the questions make
sure that you
are giving them all the necessary
information and at the end they will
tell you what documents they will need
and there is no open enrollment time
period to do that so if you're uninsured
or you need assistance with an insurance
you can do that any time of year
mass health is the first organization or
agency that goes through the application
because
they are the fullest and most
comprehensive coverage primarily without
a cost or a low cost and that's really
who we're trying to
help and assist first the health can
nectar those programs are also very
affordable and made
for
people with lower income
but masshealth has other more
comprehensive coverage that may aid them
even more fully than that connective
care but they both have their advantages
and and really help people of all sorts
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my name is cindy phillips i'm the
director of the shine program
located at the executive office of elder
affairs in boston
the shine program trains volunteers and
in-kind agency staff we have over 500
sites that we cover we try to make sure
that there's a counselor or more than
one council in every single city in town
so people have good access to
information and services
we really value access
we have 88 bilingual counselors that
provide access to 21 languages and
dialects
medicare
is a program for people who are turning
65
have paid into social security
for at least 40 quarters and therefore
they have assistance with their health
insurance when they turn 65 it's also
for people with disabilities
who have had them and been deemed
disabled at least 24 months
for people with ammotrophic lateral
sclerosis or end-stage renal disease
they can get on earlier so generally
it's age related and disability related
and if people have not paid those
quarters in
then
it opens up another interesting point if
they would have to pay for their
medicare a which is the inpatient
coverage
then they're not forced to go on to
medicare they can go on to the connector
and that's how the connector and the
shine program works together is we have
people who may be eligible for either
one or may fall in the cracks and we try
to help them get the program that's
suitable for them without
risking any penalties or any expenses
they weren't aware of
medicare has three parts
and also contracts with medicare
advantage plans the three parts are
medicare a which includes inpatient
hospitalization skilled nursing facility
home health benefits and three pipes of
blood are not covered but the rest is
medicare b is outpatient coverage that
would include your doctor's visits
durable medical equipment
physical therapy skilled nursing
facility
and medicare
d are the prescription drug benefits
people have certain times when they need
to sign up for medicare a b and d
and
if they don't sign up during a certain
time frame they may be penalized so
there's just a lot of moving parts
within medicare that people need to be
aware of
what if you need
outpatient surgery what is that cost
really going to be for you what if you
need chemotherapy how much will you pay
which insulin is on the senior saver
plan and which companies are paying for
that are helping to moderate your
insulin costs
you know it's really helpful to have
people who don't have a stake in what
you choose to help lay out your options
you know it would help you drill down to
that link to find out what that really
means and that's what the shy counselors
do
so the health connector has
lots of standalone shopping tools that
somebody can use before they even enter
or complete an application where these
standalone shopping tools let someone
enter their own preferences so let's say
if someone has a particular physician or
provider that they want to keep a
relationship with
they can enter that information in as
well as let's say a particular facility
that they want to make sure they can go
to in case of emergency
or if someone has particular medication
that they want to be sure
that is covered in their plan
when someone is looking for health
insurance coverage i think one of the
first things that they need to consider
is whether or not they want to find out
if they can get some help paying for
their monthly premiums so on our website
at mahealthconnector.org
there are tools that someone can use to
put in some general information about
themselves their household and find out
which type of application they need to
complete
there is a subsidized application which
is a little bit longer for someone to
complete and then there is a separate
application if someone knows that
they're not going to seek any help
paying for their premiums
one thing i'd like people to know is to
not be afraid to apply for
any reason whether you're afraid because
of your immigration status or you are
afraid you think you're not eligible
don't let that stop you because you may
be eligible for something that will
assist you
go and apply and see what you're
eligible for it's better to have someone
assist you an application counselor than
doing it by yourself
my best advice for people who
need to make some decisions open up that
annual notice of change from your own
health insurance plan
if you open it up and there's something
there that's confusing or it looks like
it's changed in some way or no longer
covers your medications or your provider
is leaving
then it's definitely time if you feel
comfortable to go to the medicare plan
finder type in your prescriptions
if that process seems a little bit
confusing the first time or the 10th
time which it can be because the plan
finder changes annually do feel free to
contact a scheid counselor you can
contact them by calling 1-800-240
or you can call your own town's council
on aging
i've been doing this for many many years
and before there was just mass health
and to know now that there is insurance
for everyone whether it's a young person
who's working but don't doesn't have
insurance offered to them or
not affordable insurance through their
employer there's so many different
variations that people weren't eligible
before and now it's out there for people
so
it's wonderful to see the changes that
have taken place over the years and made
it easier for people to apply
we want to keep this process as simple
as possible so that health insurance is
just one part
of someone's life and that they can feel
a little bit more comfortable at night
like one less thing to worry about
having their health insurance coverage
in case
in case they need it whenever they need
it
this is complex information it changes
as people age
as their situations change or all sorts
of transitions that people go through
it is very satisfying for me personally
to know that what we're doing is
meaningful you know that it does help
people and so many counselors feel the
same way they get a lot of gratification
out of doing the work
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it doesn't stop with insurance it
doesn't stop with
saving them money it goes a long way and
really caring for them as individuals
their health their families just the
stresses of everyday living and
sometimes heart-wrenching to see them
through their development in different
ways whether it's up or down
but they they come back and they tell us
their stories and it's a wonderful
privilege to have to be able to help
these individuals and not just be
pushing paper at people but to really
get to know them and help them
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