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Health & Fitness

Lake County Residents Begin Enrolling Online

Lake County residents needing healthcare insurance are beginning to enroll for coverage as demonstrated by Highland Park resident Richard Heineman (center), the first person helped by an in-person counselor in the Moraine Township offices.  Assisting him are counselors Joseph Chevalier and Terri Olian, also residents of Highland Park.

“My wife and I are both self-employed and have been waiting anxiously for the marketplace to open.  We appreciated the counselor’s knowledge of the ACA and help navigating the process,” Heineman said.

Moraine Township is partnering with the Lake County Health Department and the Alliance for Human Services to assist residents in navigating Get Covered Illinois – The Official Health Marketplace. Certified volunteer counselors will continue to be available to assist individuals with the enrollment process, which ends March 31, 2014.

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Approximately 70,000 Lake County residents are uninsured. Residents whose household income is 138% or less of the federal poverty guideline, or about $27,000 for a family of three in 2013, will be eligible for the expanded Medicaid program. Those with higher incomes may be eligible for subsidies to help offset the cost of health insurance based on a sliding income scale.

Assistance will be available by appointment Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Moraine Township Office, 777 Central Ave., Highland Park.  Sites throughout Lake County are also opening.  For a map of enrollment locations, times and additional information, visit: EnrollLakeCounty.com and GetCoveredIllinois.gov.

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