Accessing Healthcare With Jennifer Burgess 
[Music]
Matt: Welcome to Bellingham Technical College’s Money$marts Podcast. I’m your host, Matt Benoit and each episode we will talk with BTC students, staff, community professionals and financial experts about financial literacy and wellness in order to help listeners navigate resources in the community and empower themselves, financially. Today, we’re here with Jennifer Burgess from the Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement. So, how are you doing today Jennifer? 
Jennifer: Great, thanks. Thanks for having me.
Matt: Excellent. So, tell me about your position with WAHA as it’s known by its acronym. 
Jennifer: You bet, WAHA. So I, well first of all what WAHA does is provide resources for community members, health related resources. Our mission really is to break down barriers for folks in the healthcare world, what have you. One of the programs we offer is assistance in enrolling in the health plan finder and so my position is to direct the navigator program in our North Sound five counties, Snohomish, Skagit, Island, San Juan, and Whatcom County. We have navigators who assist folks in enrolling in insurance on the exchange, the health plan finder. And so, those navigators often need assistance and so that’s where I come in. We, at WAHA are in charge of and have a contract to direct the navigators, as I mentioned. So, that’s really what I’m tasked with.
Matt: Now, for many of the healthcare programs at Bellingham Technical College, students enrolled in these programs are required to have health insurance. Obviously, this can be a barrier for students to work full time to maintain the health insurance while in school, but lose focus on their studies from having to be at work 40 hours a week. Are there insurance plans out there that students could qualify for? 
Jennifer: So, absolutely. One of the things that was set forth in the Affordable Care Act, and you mentioned that some folks have to stick with working full time to access their health insurance. So, the Affordable Care Act created premium assistance programs. So, if you are within or below 400% of the federal poverty level. It’s possible you’ll get assistance paying for health insurance. So, I would advise folks who are working full time to use a tool on the health plan finder. And that website is wahealthplanfinder.org. So, on that home page there is a tool where you can fool around with your household income and see if you would qualify for tax credits. So, you know, you’re going to get assistance, as I mentioned if you’re below 400% of the federal poverty level, which is quite a generous level, you’ll get assistance paying for those premiums. 
Matt: Now if you meet certain income eligibility requirements you can use Washington Apple Health, which is Washington State’s federal Medicaid program. This program helps with medical costs for folks with limited income or resources. So, how do students start the process of using Washington Apple Health? 
Jennifer: Correct. Apple Health is something that’s always enrolling as well. And to access that and get enrolled in Apple Health  you’d go on the same website, the wahealthplanfinder.org and create an application. So, if you’re a single individual with an income of $1,397, and that’s a gross or before taxes, then you’re going to qualify for Apple Health. And, like I mentioned, that’s always enrolling. The other insurance options are only open during open enrollment, which has just ended in the middle of December. Unless you qualify for a special enrollment period such as losing health insurance, if you are scaling back work, as some of these students might, then that would open a special enrollment period. 
Matt: How do students know if they qualify for free or low-cost health insurance? 
Jennifer: So, that’s just going through the application process, plugging in your household, so that would be who’s in your tax filing household. And then your gross monthly income is included in that as well. Deductions are also taken into account so you can lower your income by using things like tuition and costs at school and things that you would claim in your income taxes as deductions. So again, the Health Plan Finder is where you would go to find that.
Matt: Okay. Now, how can WAHA specifically, help students with the process of getting health insurance? 
Jennifer: Yeah, so we at WAHA, we have, what’s called, navigators for the health plan finder. So, you can certainly contact us for assistance in navigating the health plan finder. It can be kind of difficult and people run into barriers or have barriers to enrolling so we’re happy to make an appointment in person or on the phone and walk you through that process. And typically, eligibility for health insurance is determined immediately. So at the end of that appointment if you qualify for Apple Health you’re going to be enrolled in insurance. 
Matt: Could you tell us the phone number for getting help? Because I know sometimes, one of the big complaints has been sometimes the Washington health plan finder website, typically on weekends, is down for maintenance so people can’t always access the website all the time. [5:42] I don’t know if you have a phone number or not. [5:46]
Jennifer:  Well, what I do have is WAHA’s phone number for sure. And there are other community partners who assist in enrolling. So, WAHA’s phone number is 360-788-6594 again that’s 360-788-6594. Unity Care, which is a community health center locally, and SeaMar another community health center also have navigators on site and you typically do not need an appointment there. Planned Parenthood also has navigators, Opportunity Council, and so again, wahealthplanfinder.org is the website. That’s often going to be better and a little less wait time than calling but you can always call, especially if you run into some sort of error issue that occurs quite a lot. Alright, 1-855-923-4633, again it’s 1-855-923-4633 for health plan finder.  
Matt: Now, let’s say in a situation where a student doesn’t qualify for Washington Apple Health, you know, or they don’t have health insurance for whatever reason. What care options do they have if they don’t have health insurance and they need to pay out of pocket for medical expenses? 
Jennifer: Yeah, so, that’s a tough one. First of all, I would say contact us or go on the health plan finder and see if there’s any way you would qualify for health insurance, particularly Apple Health. If you’re just stuck in one of those situations and you’re not receiving employer sponsored insurance, accessing things like bridge assistance or charity care through the hospital is an option. And so, I always suggest folks, even if you are insured, ask about financial assistance for those out of pocket costs that insurance isn’t paying. But, again if you’re uninsured inquire about financial assistance through PeaceHealth, additionally SeaMar and Unity Care both are local community health centers that have sliding fee scale assistance which is always available based on your income and a good thing to access.
Matt: As anyone who’s looked into the health plan finder knows, medical and dental care plans are separate. So, if students are looking for dental care how can you help them.
Jennifer: Yeah, so good question. So, we would suggest that if you are able to afford it enroll yourself in a dental plan. You don’t necessarily have to do that on the health plan finder. And Delta Dental is, and Willamette Dental here in Washington state are both good options and I would suggest perusing their websites to see the best options. But if it is, you know, those monthly premiums are too expensive we have resource lists for dental, low cost dental options. So again, if you don’t need restorative care, like root canals etcetera then going to one of our community health centers is going to be your best bet. If you’re insured with Apple Health dental is included as a benefit but if not then accessing it through an insurance carrier, if you can pull that off, if not then we have the dentalists online also, the Whatcom Alliance website. So you can access those. And it’s going to list, in fact, BTC is even on that list because you guys have a dental program. So, we refer folks there.
Matt: That’s right. BTC does have a dental clinic where BTC students and veterans can get discounts on basic dental services such as exams, x-rays, and cleanings. If you want to schedule an appointment you can call 360-752-8349 or you can also email dental@btc.edu. Now, does WAHA offer any resources for mental health?
Jennifer: Yeah, so we have a program that we help coordinate called BHAP and that’s a Behavioral Health Access Program. So, if you are uninsured and in need of some behavioral health assistance or counseling then you are welcome to call us and we can refer you out. There are several providers locally who are contracted under this program and you would receive eight to ten visits at a very low or no cost to you until you can get yourself to a regular insurance plan to get this covered.
Matt: Okay.
Jennifer: And again, that would be contacting us at Whatcom Alliance to get connected there. 
Matt: It’s also important to know that BTC offers free and confidential mental health counseling for students. Students can sign up in the admissions office in college services. It’s room 106. Now on WAHA’s website the mission statement says that you are driven by a two part system of providing local access services while fostering public participation in meaningful system change. We talked a little bit about the first part of that mission but will you speak to what the second part of that mission looks like?
Jennifer: You bet. Having the community and the clients we serve own their own healthcare is something that we really strive to do. Whether that’s, you know, assisting folks initially with getting enrolled in insurance but then encouraging them to continue to update their applications, say on the health plan finder, so that they’re keeping everything up to date on their own instead of calling us for assistance constantly. The other thing that we offer are advanced care planning. So, either workshops, or appointments where you come in and walk through an Advanced Directive. And so that’s something that the community, we’re really trying to get the community involved in and own their end of life choices. The other piece is, something that WAHA does, is helps counsel folks who are enrolling - newly enrolled in Medicare or who need to change their Medicare plan. So, again that’s bring community members in and educating them on their health insurance or options and having them choose what works for them. 
Matt: So, you mentioned an Advanced Directive. What is that?
Jennifer: Yeah, so that is where folks… It’s a legal document that gets filed with your provider so here in our county it would be Saint Joe’s Hospital. But it really sets out your end of life choices and how you want to experience the medical system at the end of life. And making some very serious choices but we’ve got some counselors who can help walk you through that. And it’s really something that we feel passionately about here in Whatcom County, getting that to be a part of what the community does and knows about. 
Matt: Are there any other resources or services that WAHA offers that we haven’t touched on yet?
Jennifer: So, one that we didn’t touch on was prescription assistance. And so, as we know, prescriptions can be quite costly, even if you do have insurance but particularly for folks who don’t. And there are several programs that we can help connect people with to access financial assistance through drug manufacturers, for instance, and again those resources are on our website but we’re happy to help folks who need that assistance find prescription assistance programs etcetera. 
Matt: This is your job and the way you make your living. Why do you think this kind of work, the work that WAHA does, is so important for the community?
Jennifer: Well, everywhere, folks experience barriers to all of these things we’ve discussed and so they need somebody in the community who can help them navigate all these complicated programs. Whether you don’t have a home, whether you don’t have a computer, whether you’re just are so overwhelmed with this stack of medical bills, it’s just something that really is important. And really is something that WAHA and the board who directs WAHA feels is important for the community members to have available.
Matt: Excellent. Well, thank you, Jennifer so much for being here. 
Jennifer: You bet. Thanks for having us. And, please go ahead and contact us anytime you need assistance at our 360-788-6594 or whatcomaliance.org
Matt: Thanks for listening to this episode of the Money$marts Podcast, be sure to check out all our episodes on the BTC website. They’re loaded with stories, tips, tricks and strategies for financial literacy. This podcast is produced by Cheryl Kennedy with music courtesy of Bensound.com. I’m Matt Benoit, see you next time!