HHS Launches Insurance Exchange Education Videos, Promo Website
With just about eight weeks before the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges are scheduled to begin open enrollment, HHS has launched a new website and rolled out a series of education videos and infographics to promote the online marketplaces, USA Today reports (Kennedy, USA Today, 8/5).
According to Kaiser Health News' "Capsules," the Obama administration launched the new features ahead of time as a strategy to generate more consumer interest in the exchanges and allow individuals to get a head start on the enrollment process.
During a teleconference with the media on Monday, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said residents in the 34 states with federally run exchanges can create user accounts with passwords on the website in preparation for open enrollment on Oct. 1. Although they can peruse general information about the exchanges, they cannot sign up for coverage for another few weeks (Galewitz, "Capsules," Kaiser Health News, 8/5).
According to the AP/Sacramento Bee, the new personal account feature -- at healthcare.gov -- will be available only in the English for the time being. HHS officials said the feature will be offered in Spanish -- at cuidadodesalud.gov -- soon (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Sacramento Bee, 8/5).
Sebelius also announced the creation of a new call center for small businesses to obtain information about the ACA's Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP (USA Today, 8/5).
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