PANELISTS Raul Macias Jen Flory Voting Rights Attorney Senior - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

PANELISTS Raul Macias Jen Flory Voting Rights Attorney Senior Attorney ACLU of California Voting Rights Project Western Center on Law & Poverty

Covered California – Round 2 Open Enrollment & Renewals Jen Flory Western Center on Law & Poverty 24 September 2014 WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY

What We’ll Cover  Open Enrollment  How to Apply  Lessons from last year  Renewals WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY

Open Enrollment November 15, 2014 - February 15, 2015 WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY

Ways Consumers Will Apply “No Wrong Door” • Online  Through Covered California website  Through SAWS portal • By Phone  To the statewide Covered California Service Center  Direct to county or county call center • Mail  Sent to Covered California  Sent to county human services department • In person  At a county social services office  Assisted by certified enrollment counselors WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY 6

Online

Phone  Covered California-operated Service Centers (Sacramento, Contra Costa and Fresno) take phone applications, answer questions/provide assistance, and process mail-in applications.  Monday – Friday 8 am to 6 pm and Saturdays 8 am to 5 pm.  County social services offices can also take phone applications.

New Single, Streamlined Paper App  For Medi-Cal and Exchange coverage (Should include AIM program, referral to county programs)  For non-MAGI Medi- Cal, the counties have to get additional information . 9

Applying in Person  With an enrollment counselor or at a county welfare office.  County workers trained on Exchange eligibility as well as plan choice.  “Certified enrollment counselors” certified and trained by Covered California and can receive $58 for a successful Exchange enrollment; $25 for an Exchange renewal. TCE has donated funds to compensate for Medi-Cal enrollments.  Certified Insurance Agent – paid by plans WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY

Renewals October 6, 2014 – December 15, 2014 WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY

Renewal Process Oct 6-Oct 30 Renewal Notices go out on rolling giving 30 days to renew Oct 7-Nov 15 Targeted renewal notices (might be a better plan, plan no longer available) Nov 1 Plans send out renewal notices Oct 10 – Dec 15 Notices of eligibility for APTCs Nov 14 – Dec 16 Notices with plan selection and APTC amount WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY

Auto-renewal  If no consent to verify income, no APTCs/CSRs available  Plan must still be available(e.g. not Contra Costa Health Plan, certain types of Health Net plans)  Special rules for those no longer eligible for their plans (catastrophic, Enhanced Silver Plans)  Cannot auto-enroll into a different carrier WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY

Changes?  Can change plans until February 15, 2015 via open enrollment  Bear in mind date that coverage will change depends on when change requested  Many people will also be reporting changes via the renewal process, so their premiums will change again

Resources  Current Covered California Regulations: http://hbex.coveredca.com/regulations/ (Eligibility & renewal regulations are under “Eligibility and Enrollment and Appeals Process”; most recent is 9 -12-14)  Help for Consumers: Health Consumer Alliance, 888-804-3536, www.healthconsumer.org WESTERN CENTER ON LAW & POVERTY

Voter Registration at Covered California Raúl Macías, Voting Rights Attorney ACLU of California Voting Rights Project

Why Voter Registration at Covered California? • Federal law: National Voter Registration Act – Public assistance agencies required to provide voter registration opportunities • California leading: Other states working on compliance – First to designate health benefit exchange a voter registration agency

How did we get here? • May 2013 : Covered California designated as voter registration agency by SOS. • October 2013 : Open enrollment period begins without voter registration. • March 2014 : After threat of lawsuit, Covered California and SOS reach settlement agreement with ACLU, Demos, and Project Vote to fully comply with federal and state voting rights laws by 2014 open enrollment. • May 2014 : Covered California completes remedial mailing to 2.6 million households. Ongoing mailings begin for special enrollment applicants. • November 2014 : Covered California to be fully compliant with voting rights laws.

When will Covered California provide voter registration? • With each: – Application – Renewal – Change of address • All transactions, whether: – Online – Mail – In-person – Phone • Consumers receive voter registration regardless of eligibility.

In-Person Assistance • Provided by: – Certified enrollment counselors – Navigators – Certified insurance agents – County welfare offices • Must provide same degree of assistance as with Covered CA forms unless assistance declined. • Note: Consumers applying with plan based enrollers will all be mailed a voter registration card.

In- Person Assistance Continued… • Training for assisters will include: – Voter registration training module included in computer based training for CECs, insurance agents, navigators, and plan based enrollers. – Covered California will host webinar training. – Preparation to provide equal assistance.

Online Applications and Renewals Page appears before eligibility determination Consumers have three options Not mandatory to answer Notice of rights

Consumers taken to www.registertovote.ca.gov Voter registration form available in 10 languages Note: Consumers without state ID or SSN can still use online voter registration

Phone transactions • Consumers applying, renewing, or changing address by phone will be mailed voter registration cards. • Assistance with voter registration available by phone from county elections offices or Secretary of State office (800) 345-8683.

Paper/Mail Applications ☐ Yes , please mail me a voter registration card. If a consumer is applying in- person with an assister and internet is not available, consumer will be mailed a voter registration card ☐ Yes , I will go online and register to vote at www.registertovote.ca.gov. If a consumer is applying in- person with an assister and internet is available, assister will take consumer to www.coveredca.gov voter registration page Note: If you do not check a box, you will be considered to have decided not to register to vote at this time and a voter registration card will be mailed to you

Renewals • Consumers who renew online, in-person, or by phone will receive voter registration as part of that process. • Consumers who do not actively renew during open enrollment and are automatically renewed by Covered California will be mailed a voter registration card.

Resources • Problems or concerns? We want to know: rmacias@acluca.org • Covered California assisters will receive a task guide which includes responsibilities, screenshots, and FAQ on voter registration. • ACLU has a toolkit with fact sheets for NVRA agency employees: www.aclusandiego.org/nvra-toolkit/ • ACLU has website with info on voting rights of formerly incarcerated: www.letmevoteca.org • Secretary of State website has information for voters and NVRA agencies: www.sos.ca.gov

THANK YOU Please feel free to email any questions/comments you may have to: Raul Macias Jen Flory Voting Rights Attorney Senior Attorney ACLU of California Voting Rights Project Western Center on Law & Poverty rmacias@acluca.org jflory@wclp.org