Our Revolution of San Juan County is sponsoring assistance with enrolling in health insurance for 2018.

Residents of San Juan County who need help enrolling in the Apple Health Program (Washington’s expanded Medicaid) or who wish to purchase a plan to cover medical costs for the upcoming year can make appointments for that help.

Representatives from the Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement (WAHA), a free and unbiased service, will be on Orcas Island Thursday, December 14 as “navigators” through the open enrollment process.

Assistance is first come, first served by appointment only.

To request an appointment for December 14th enrollment assistance San Juan County residents should call WAHA at 360.788.6526

“The health insurance enrollment process can be intimidating,” says Brad Brown, chair of the local Our Revolution health care working group. “There have been changes to the Affordable Care Act and some changes in insurance company offerings. It is great to have this help from the trained experts at WAHA.”

WAHA serves as the lead Navigator organization for a five-county region (Whatcom, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and Snohomish). In this role, they help people search for, compare, and enroll in health plans offered through the Washington HealthPlanFinder.

“There is NO deadline for Washington Apple Health,” states Heather Mueller, WAHA’s Navigator Program Regional Coordinator. “Open enrollment for those who would purchase a plan, is from November 1 – January 15. Individuals needing their coverage to start January 1, need to enroll by December 15.”

“We are very excited to visit Orcas December 14,” Mueller continued. “We recently got word from the Washington Health Benefit Exchange , that there has been a 43% increase in NEW sign-ups just in the first four weeks of open enrollment! There has also been an 18% uptick in traffic for open enrollment as well. We are happy that we can be part of this encouraging trend to protect the people of Washington State.”