Thousands of Floridians have been told they could lose Affordable Care Act coverage because of inconsistencies in their paperwork.
In August, the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace startedcontacting enrollees who had inconsistencies on their applications relating to citizenship or immigration status.
Anne Packham is the Marketplace Exchange Project Coordinator in Central Florida.
She says across the state more than 90,000 people have been told the information they submitted on their applications, such as the Social Security or Permanent Resident Card number, doesn't match the information the government already has on file. Packham says that's about 10% of Floridians who signed up overall.
“A lot of people who did it online or who didn’t get around to doing that are now getting notices from the government indicating that if they don’t submit the paperwork they need, they may lose their coverage,” says Packham.
She says people can upload citizenship and immigration documents at Healthcare.gov- or they can send them to the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace in London Kentucky.
She says navigators can help people with the process.
“They have not been calling our navigator office, and we’re not sure why. If they have been sending in their paperwork, we’re not getting any feedback from the government to let us know for sure, ‘hey, this is really working,’ but we haven’t had a lot of people calling us looking for help.”
For people with inconsistencies in their immigration and citizenship status, the deadline to submit paperwork is September 5th.
Otherwise they risk losing healthcare coverage on September 30th.
Some of the comments on the healthcare.gov blog express frustration with the enrollment process of signing up for insurance using the marketplace.
People who need help with the application process can reach a navigator in Central Florida by calling 1-877-564-5031 or emailing cflnavigator@gmail.com