Wynne McHale-The Washington Health Benefit Exchange

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the public Affair show ofyour favorite iHeartRadio station right here in Seattle.
Limeley Callahan, I've got on thephone with me somebody that can answer
all of our questions about the WashingtonHealth Benefit Exchange, about getting insurance if
you're not getting it through work,and all the changes that have been made.
It's Wyn McHale, chief of stafffor the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.

(00:24):
Hi, Win, Hi, howare you. I'm really good. So
first, my first question is beforethe Affordable Care Act were we supposed to
have insurancer? Was that only becauseof the ACA? Access to insurance coverage
has always been an important thing,especially in the US healthcare system, but
before the Affordable Care Act that accesswas a lot more challenging and a lot

(00:48):
of folks did not have coverage ifthey didn't have it offered through their employer
or purchased it privately. And whenthe Affordable Care Act passed years ago,
one of the requirements was called theIndividual Mandate, which did require folks who
did not have insurance to go totheir states exchange or the Federal exchange and
purchase insurance coverage, or there wasa tax penalty that went away a couple

(01:10):
of years ago. But regardless ifthere is an individual mandate or not,
we know that access to insurance coverageis absolutely critical for everybody in our state.
Absolutely so, no more penalty taxwise, correct, but still we
want everybody to have it because canyou imagine something catastrophic happening. Let's talk
about getting people signed up on theWashington Health Benefits Exchange, and let's explain

(01:36):
to everybody what the exchange is andwho runs it. Absolutely so. The
exchange is called a public private partnershipand we help one in four Washingtonian secure
health insurance coverage and dental coverage.We do eligibility and enrollment services on Washington
Health plan Finder, which is ourwebsite for not only Apple Health or state's

(01:57):
Medicaid program, but we also runour state's marketplace for qualified health and dental
plans. And these are just privateindividual and family health plans that comply with
the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. So what has changed in recent months
that's been newsworthy of late. WashingtonState is once again leading the nation and

(02:19):
expanding access to health and dental insurancecoverage as we welcome all of our community
members to use Washington Health Plan finder, including folks who are undocumented, and
this is a really big change.Last year, the Exchange submitted a request
for what's called a federal thirteen thirtytwo State Innovation waiver, and we submitted
that request to the federal government atthe direction of our state legislature. That

(02:42):
waiver request was approved by the federalgovernment in December of last year, and
Lee this essentially gave us the goahead to open our doors to all of
our state's residents, including folks whoare undocumented. Since then, we have
been busy preparing for open enrollment,which started on November first and continues until
January fifteenth. Wow, perfect timinghaving you on. Was there any pushback?

(03:04):
I mean, you know how itwent down in our state legislature.
Did it happen there first before itwent nationally. So our state legislature gave
the Exchange direction to submit that thirteenthirty two waiver. We are a nonpartisan,
quasi state agency, and so weconduct our work, you know,
at the direction of the state legislatureand the governor, as well as our

(03:27):
federal government and so the state legislature. They've been taking steps over the last
several years to expand access to insurancecoverage to address affordability challenges, and this
was part of expanding access to everybodyin Washington State. We know that access
to health insurance it can be thedifference between life and death in many cases.
And if you don't have insurance,you delay regular checkups, important screenings.

(03:50):
If you have a health concern,you may delay seeing a provider,
and that could mean showing up inthe er with something like cancer that is
now at a later stage and morechallenging to treat, not to mention more
expensive. So it's spanding access tohealth insurance. It's not only a moral
imperative and I think it's the rightthing to do, but it's also critical
for our economy. We need healthyworkers showing up on the job site,

(04:13):
and access to health insurance is acritical component to making that happen. Yeah,
and back to the new thing whereit's open to everyone, including undocumented
immigrants. I mean, we gotto face facts. There are undocumented immigrants
coming to work every day around here, doing so much work in our communities.
Absolutely exactly what you said. Doyou have any kind of numbers on

(04:35):
how many folks in Washington State areundocumented well, our research shows that about
one hundred and five thousand community memberswho are undocumented are also uninsured, and
that's about twenty five percent of thestate's total uninsured rate. Though I think
it's very important to note that thisnumber is likely low and underestimated and doesn't

(04:57):
show the true uninsured rate, whichis likely much higher. Let's talk about
people being afraid of trying to gethealth insurance to the Washington health Finder exchange.
Do they have anything to fear abouttheir immigration status becoming public? That
is a great question. So youknow right now, everyone in Washington State,
regardless of immigration status, is eligibleto visit WA health planfinder dot org

(05:23):
and check out their options for insurance. We can talk about this, but
costs will vary widely depending on factorslike income, family size, where you
live, and the type of planthat you select. So if you are
uninsured, it is really important toat least log on to WA health planfinder
dot org and just check out youroptions. You're not obligated to purchase insurance
coverage, but you'll at least havegood information about what is available in what

(05:46):
it will cost, and very importantly, no information provided in Washington health plan
Finder does not affect people's immigration statusor citizenship application. It will only be
used to check eligibility for health insuranceand related savings, and not used for
other purposes. I think it's importantthat everybody who's using Washington Health Plan Finder
knows that federal and state laws protectthe privacy of people who apply for health

(06:10):
insurance through Washington Health Plan Finder,and information about immigration status will only be
used to determine eligibility for coverage andnot for immigration enforcement. So applying for
or receiving health insurance and receiving financialassistance to pay for the insurance premiums does
not make someone what's called a publiccharge, and this means that it won't

(06:30):
affect immigration status or citizens ship applicationsfor you, your family, or anybody
who lives with you when Michael's onthe phone chief of staff for the Washington
Health Benefit Exchange. So this informationcannot be utilized for immigration enforcement at all.
Correct. Okay, can we talkabout the other different health plan options

(06:50):
that are available and maybe kind ofdo ballpark figures? Is that possible?
Absolutely? So, we have acrossthe state for twenty twenty four or there
are eighty two qualified health plans acrosstwelve insurance carriers, which breaks down to
anywhere from two to ten carriers thatare present in every county in Washington State.

(07:11):
And plan costs do vary, Sothe cost of buying health insurance depends
on things like your income, yourfamily size, where you live, and
the type of plan that you select. And we encourage folks to either go
on to WA health planfinder dot organd you can select brows and compare plans,
put in a little bit of informationand it will give you a ballpark

(07:32):
estimate of what costs might be foryou or your family. You can also
work with a trusted resource in yourcommunity to learn how much a plan might
cost you. We have brokers andwe have health insurance navigators available across the
state as well as our customer supportcenter that can help folks step through the
different options available to them in termsof cost. It really can vary pretty

(07:55):
widely from family to family, dependingon your circumstances. For some folks,
depending on their family size and incomeand the plan that they select, that
they could have a health insurance premiumas low as ten dollars a month,
they could be over five hundred dollarsper month. It really just depends on
a lot of different factors. AndI know you know it's no secret that
health insurance can be really expensive inWashington State. Are certainly aiming to lessen

(08:18):
that financial burdens for all of ourcommunity members. And for the second year,
we do have Cascade Care savings andthese are available to eligible customers and
they help bring down the cost ofthose monthly premiums. And so for twenty
twenty four, the maximum amount isone hundred and fifty five dollars off of
your premium per member per month forthose who are eligible for federal subsidies.

(08:41):
And then our new customers who areundocumented, they are not eligible for federal
subsidies under federal law, but theyare eligible for those Cascade Care savings.
So if you are a community memberwho is undocumented and your income meets the
requirements and you select a qualifying plan, you could receive up to two hundred
and fifty dollars off of your premiumper member per month, and that can

(09:05):
be some pretty significant savings for folks. And that's really just why I encourage
everybody, even if you think healthinsurance is out of reaching your budget,
go to WA Health planfinder dot organd at least check out the options.
You might be surprised to see whatis available in your community at a cost
that you'll be able to afford.Well, that's great information. Wyn McHale's

(09:26):
the chief of staff for the WashingtonHealth Benefit Exchange. You know, let's
revisit something we talked about earlier andhow it affects you know, our workers
in the greater Seattle Western Washington area, you know, and how it affects
the economy to not have people insured. You know, there's something else that
affects all of us too. Howhas it been impacting us in Washington financially?

(09:50):
I know when other people don't haveinsurance, it affects those with insurance.
Is that right? You know,that's a great question. I don't
want to follow up with you withsome information. We do know that,
you know, when folks don't haveinsurance coverage, you know, they delay
access to important things like cancer screeningsor regular checkups where health issues might be
caught at an earlier stage when they'remore easily treatable. And it could even

(10:13):
be you know, on the jobinjuries. For our community members who are
undocumented, they are often working inrisky jobs, and if they get injured,
if they get hurt and they don'thave access to insurance coverage and they
can't afford to pay out of pocket, they might not go get the care
that they need to ensure that they'reable to get back to work. And
so you know, again it's notjust a moral imperative that we make sure

(10:35):
everybody can go to the doctor whenthey need to, but it's really critical
for our economy that we are supportingpeople and being healthy so they can show
up to work and get the jobdone. I'm glad we revisited that.
Okay, one more time, let'sdo the website. Yeah, we encourage
everybody to go to WA Health Plansfinderdot org. That is our website.

(10:56):
It's WA Health Plansfinder dot rg.Go there check out the available health insurance
options. We also know that accessingand shopping for insurance coverage can be really
overwhelming and really confusing, and sowe have a lot of as sisters available
across the state, free of charge, waiting to help folks step through their

(11:16):
health insurance options. And they speaka number of languages, and so whatever
needs people have in terms of languageaccess, we can help meet that need,
and we encourage folks to call ourcustomer support center at eight five five
nine two three four six three three. Again, our customer Support center is
eight five five nine two three foursix three three. You can get personal

(11:39):
support multiple languages, and also beconnected with an in person assister, a
navigator, or a broker in yourown community. If that's how you would
like to receive support. That's greatinformation because I know if something looks overwhelming,
I'm not going to do it terrible, but with absolutely but knowing that
there's somebody who can hold my handthrough something like this, yeah, I'll

(12:00):
do it. I'll get it done. So Win Mkale, Chief of staff
for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.What is the enrollment period? So open
enrollment is happening right now. Novemberfirst to January fifteenth. Okay, if
you enroll by December fifteenth, youwill have insurance coverage that starts January first
for all of twenty twenty four,So November first to December fifteenth, that's

(12:24):
that first deadline. If you enrollby December fifteenth, your insurance coverage will
start January first, But we dohave open enrollment until January fifteenth. If
you enroll after December fifteenth, thenyour coverage won't start until February first.
Okay, so all of that tosay, get into WA health planfinder dot
org by December fifteenth to buy insurancecoverage that will start January first of next

(12:50):
year WA health planfinder dot org.I want to thank you so much for
your time. Win Mkale, chiefof staff for the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.
Thank you. Thanks you have agreat day you too.