PANAMA CITY — Confusion over the Affordable Care Act, the sweeping new law aimed at reforming American health care, was evident Wednesday night at a community forum hosted by Bay Medical Center Sacred Heart Health System.
Roughly 50 people attended the forum, one of several such events the hospital plans to host before the end of the open enrollment period on March 31. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), which requires individuals to have health insurance or pay a fine, is complicated and politically divisive, but the purpose of the forums is to inform rather than inflame, said Bay Medical spokeswoman Christa Hild.
“In general, nobody’s here to pick a political fight,” Hild said. “They’re just here to find out what’s going on.”
An estimated 38,000 Bay County residents are eligible for some level of subsidy, Hild said, and everyone in the region who buys an ACA plan will be insured by Florida Blue.
Steve Macomber, a representative of Florida Blue, delivered a brief presentation and spent much of an hour answering questions, many of which were very specific to the interrogators’ situation. For those specific questions, Macomber recommended contacting an agent with Florida Health Connector.
Regina Cummings didn’t want anything to do with the ACA. She showed up because she hoped Florida Blue was Blue Cross Blue Shield. She’d done research on the Internet but was still very confused about the new law. Her biggest takeaway from Macomber’s presentation was the contact information for Florida Heath Connectors.
“It’s great to know there’s an agent you can sit down with and will help you,” Cummings said.
Macomber went over the broad strokes of what the ACA offers, but because each individual’s circumstances are different, he urged audience members to contact an agent who can understand what someone needs from a plan and help get the appropriate subsidy for those who qualify.
Because of that, agent Connie LeVasseur expected to busy on the phone Thursday morning.
“This usually starts the conversation,” she said after the forum. “It heats up around 6 tomorrow morning.”