Message #38327

[Psalm 51:17]

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/07/25/cvs-plans-to-help-customers-navigate-obamacare/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
7/25/13
CVS Plans to Help Customers Sign Up for Obamacare

CVS Caremark Corp. will roll out an outreach campaign this fall to help uninsured Americans find out about their insurance options under the Affordable Care Act.

Federal and state governments are planning to launch online insurance exchanges or marketplaces starting Oct. 1 that will allow people to shop for private health insurance or Medicaid if they qualify. Coverage would start Jan. 1.

“We’re planning pretty close to Oct. 1 to use stores as a place where people can get information,” Helena Foulkes, CVS Caremark executive vice president and chief health care strategy and marketing officer, said in an interview. She said the company learned during the 2006 expansion of Medicare, which added a drug benefit, that consumers didn’t start asking for information or help until they could actually enrollin a drug plan rather than worrying about it ahead of time.

Ms. Foulkes said pharmacists and pharmacy staff in the firm’s 7,400-plus retail stores will be trained to help direct customers to reliable sources of information about how they can obtain insurance coverage under the health law. Local stores will allow organizations who have trained navigators or people qualified to help consumers pick and enroll in an insurance plan to set up  inside CVS locations.

CVS, which also run retail health clinics in more than 600 stores, and other drugstore chains stand to benefit from having additional customers with insurance. Drugstores also have a pretty good idea of which customers lack insurance when they have prescriptions filled.

Earlier this month, Walgreens said it would offer informational brochures in its 8,000-plus stores to tell consumers about the health law and would launch a website in partnership with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

CVS is also planning in-store events that would coincide with the company’s existing “project health” program that offers free health screenings like cholesterol and glucose tests and blood pressure checks to tell consumers about the health law. The events will be focused in states that have greater portions of uninsured people, including Florida, Texas, Georgia, California and  New York.

Ms. Foukles said many people don’t realize that a family of four earning as much as $94,000 annually would qualify for tax credits. Tax credits are available for people who earn up to 400% of the federal poverty level and can be calculated using Kaiser’s subsidy calculator.

Separately, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will continue efforts to promote the health law on Thursday in Chicago. She is expected to discuss the law with women bloggers at BlogHer’s annual conference and will  tour a Chicago community health center.

The Obama administration has been focusing some of its messaging on moms with the hopes they will prod adult children to enroll in health plans after market research data shows moms are viewed by their young adult sons as their most trusted person. The administration is concerned many young healthy people who currently lack insurance will opt against it and pay the potentially cheaper fine for not having insurance in 2014.