What are some of the obstacles to getting more people enrolled in health care? That was the central question at the Rochester Area Regional Health Exchange Spring Summit Tuesday.
Ways to improve communication between agencies, the state health exchange, navigators, and the community dominated the conversations at the summit.
Attendees asked questions and made suggested improvements directly to a representative from the New York State of Health.
Community Engagement Director at the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency, Wade Norwood said the event opened a dialog about the things that worked and did not work well during open enrollment period that ended in April.
“I think the common thread of today was how complex and how confusing it is to navigate the world of health insurance and then to be a health consumer,” said Norwood.
Kim Wynn, Program Manager at Coordinated Care Services, Inc, explained there is help for confused consumers.
“They don't have to go through it alone. There is someone there that is there to assist them. And we don't want individuals to feel intimidated just because they don't have a computer that they can't enroll. We're there to help them with all of that,” said Wynn.
Outreach plans, including a fall community health care summit, were also on the day’s agenda.