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Merced Call Center Prepares to Open

By Brittany Walters-Bearden, TMCnet Contributor

Call centers all over the nation are preparing to start taking calls to answer questions about the new Affordable Care Act and begin enrollment in the new healthcare exchanges. With October 1 -- the start date for open enrollment -- just around the corner, Covered California has more than its fair share of preparation to do—the populous state has many teams of agents to prepare, not just a single team. 

Human services agency director Ana Pagan told Ramona Giwargis, of the Mercend Sun Star, “Despite a few hiccups along the way, we will be ready… We’re in good shape, and my people are really excited.” While it would be easy to assume that the majority of the calls will begin on October 1st, analysts predict that the real flood of calls will come in just before December 15th, the deadline to register for coverage that begins on the first day of 2014, adding that there may, very likely, be a rush just before March 31st, which is the final day on which people can register for healthcare without having to pay a penalty.

At this time, there are still many people who are unaware of the fact that they will be legally required to have health insurance without having to pay a penalty at tax time. While more reports on the news and commercials may seem like a logical way to educate the public, these are the methods that they have been using thus far, and there are still many people who do not know about the changes. What about, for example, someone who does not watch the news and has dropped cable in favor of Hulu (News - Alert) and Netflix? It is evident that California, and the rest of the nation, will have to do more to reach more people in their campaign to educate the public about this monumental change.

The Merced call center will be servicing its own county, as well as residents from Inyo County, Mariposa County, Mono County, Madera County, Calaveras County, Alpine County, Tuolumne County, and Amador County. There will also be a Covered California call center in Fresno, as well as a center in Contra Costa County.