The organization's coalition partners include community-based organizations, in-person
assisters, health insurance carriers, agents and brokers, health care providers, hospitals, faith organizations, community health centers and more.
Advocacy groups are launching an aggressive education campaign in response to the reportedly higher number of rogue
assisters. But in the less-affluent Rio Grande Valley region in South Texas, where the majority of reports have surfaced, many people lack reliable Internet access or have difficulty speaking English, making outreach more difficult, Medrano said.
The investigators also had six of the fake applicants try to apply for coverage through navigators and other in-person
assisters, Bagdoyan testified, according to a written version of his testimony posted on the Finance Committee website.
One critical lesson learned from our first open enrollment period is that communities of color and low-income individuals need more frequent, in-person support from
assisters in order to enroll.
Officials ideologically opposed to the ACA employ many political and policy tactics to thwart the law's implementation, and hampering
assisters is one such tactic.
The survey found that about 4,400
assister programs had about 28,000 full-time staff and volunteers, which would mean that each
assister helped more than 370 people between Oct.
Producers and
assister groups have clashed over what kind of role nonlicensed
assisters should play.
"APHA recognizes that
assisters will not have unlimited capacity, and will need to make referrals, but stronger guidance is needed to ensure that consumers are not simply referred away," the comments said.
HHS has said that exchanges will also need "in-person
assisters" and possibly other types of registered intermediaries.
Analysts at the foundation included survey responses from 662 exchange brokers, along with 713
assisters who work for nonprofit navigator programs, certified application counselor programs, and other nonprofit
assister programs, in a report on a recent survey of public exchange
assisters.