WESTMINSTER, Vt. — The open enrollment period for health coverage from Vermont Health Connect ends Dec. 15, and households that qualify can now sign up for a new plan or change their existing one. The bad news is that it can be confusing to understand what the best coverage option might be. The good news is that SEVCA’s Health Navigator is available to help households in Windham or Windsor Counties get or keep the coverage they need to stay healthy and/or obtain treatment.
SEVCA’s Health Navigator has helped hundreds of Windham and Windsor county residents with their health insurance applications since the program started here in October 2013, and is pleased to be able to continue the program with the help of the Fannie Holt Ames & Edna Louise Holt Fund.
In addition to providing assistance during the Open Enrollment period, SEVCA can also help people with a “qualifying event” that makes them eligible for coverage through a VT Health Connect plan at any time throughout the year. SEVCA also helps families apply for Medicaid and Dr. Dynasaur.
“SEVCA is committed to supporting health care access for low-income and other vulnerable households in our service area,” said Steve Geller, SEVCA’s executive director. “Without advocates to assist them, the negative impacts of an increasingly confusing health insurance maze can be significant, and hundreds of local families, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and others could be left to fend for themselves as they try to maintain coverage and obtain appropriate care and treatment. With our Health Navigator, Southeastern Vermont residents have someone to help them choose their best option.”
SEVCA recently welcomed Alicia Moyer as its new Health Navigator, and anyone in Windham and Windsor counties in need of assistance with coverage is urged to call her at 1-800-464-9951 to make an appointment. Appointments are available in Westminster on Mondays and Wednesdays 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2 – 4:30 p.m. Appointments are available in White River Junction from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on Tuesdays and in Brattleboro from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on Thursdays. SEVCA urges people seeking coverage to call as soon as possible to ensure they have enough time to submit their applications.
SEVCA has served as the federally-designated anti-poverty agency in Windsor and Windham Counties for more than 53 years. In the past year, SEVCA served nearly 9,000 people in Windham and Windsor counties through a range of programs such as crisis fuel assistance, homelessness prevention, weatherization, home repair, business start-up and support, job readiness and skills training, financial fitness, asset building, Head Start early education, food stamp outreach, access to affordable health care, income tax assistance, budgeting/savings, case management, information and referral, and thrift stores.
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