Navigators Available to Help With Health Insurance Questions

This column originally appeared in AARP Wyoming's Jan. 2022 newsletter.

By Jason Mincer
Enroll Wyoming

Wyomingites searching for cost-effective health insurance, and not on Medicare, may consider a call to Enroll Wyoming. It is funded by a federal grant to work with people in Wyoming who do not have access to health care to help find individually-tailored solutions to these problems.

Medicare is there for those over 65 (be sure to sign up three months before your 65th birthday), but so many people between 50 and 65 either retire early or work in jobs where health insurance is not offered.

“We don’t sell health insurance,” Enroll Wyoming Project Director Jason Mincer said. “Our role is to have conversations with those who do not have health insurance to find solutions that work for these individuals.”

Wyoming has some of the highest costs for health care and health insurance in the nation. This has made purchasing insurance impossible for many in Wyoming.

Mincer went on to explain a solution that will help many in this situation, “the huge advantage to Federal Insurance Marketplace insurance plans is that they are subsidized. Four out of five people we are helping in Wyoming are qualifying for plans that have a monthly premium of less than $50.”

The prices of these plans have dropped in the last two years and plans sold in the Marketplace are quality health insurance.

“These are the same insurance plans Blue Cross and Mountain Health Co-Op are selling in the private market, but with the subsidies, they are so much more affordable,” Mincer added.

The open enrollment period for insurance in 2022 goes until Jan. 15. After this date, most people will have to wait until November of 2022 to sign up, so please keep this deadline in mind.

For more information about Enroll Wyoming and to see if they can help you, reach out to Jason Mincer – Jason@enrollwyo.org or 307-633-7299.