On Tuesday, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of submitting a formal proposal to operate a call center for California's health insurance exchange, the Modesto Bee reports (Modesto Bee, 10/30).
About the Exchange
The federal health reform law requires states to launch online insurance marketplaces by 2014. California's exchange primarily will serve individuals and small businesses.
About 4.4 million Californians are expected to use the exchange by the end of 2016. Officials plan to open registration for the exchange in October 2013 (California Healthline, 10/31).
Details of Call Centers
California's exchange will have a total of three call centers for handling enrollment and eligibility functions. Two primary call centers will be located in Sacramento and Southern California.
Along with Stanislaus County, Contra Costa and Sacramento counties have expressed interest in operating the third call center.
The center -- a 25,000 square-foot facility -- would assist individuals via telephone, email or online chat functions (Modesto Bee, 10/30).
Editorial Coverage
According to a Modesto Bee editorial, the call center could create as many as 140 jobs in Stanislaus County.
The editorial states that a vote against hosting the call center by Supervisor Jim DeMartini (R) is "shortsighted," adding that county supervisors should not “block the county from looking into this economic development possibility" (Modesto Bee, 11/1).