A lay Christian minister makes challah for her friend's big meal before the Yom Yippur fast. Lisa Sinnott says she is happy to help. After all, she moved in to save money.
"I have no insurance, I have no job," said Sinnott.
With two masters degrees, she is in between jobs and trying to manage a chronic condition without health insurance.
"Just to get coverage was way too expensive. Way, way too expensive. So what I'm doing is paying out of pocket," said Sinnott.
But Sinnott hopes to find insurance when the Affordable Care Act plans start in January.
Hundreds of people are being trained as assisters. They will help the more than one million Illinoisans without insurance navigate the Affordable Care Act.
"We've all had to have car insurance and now we have to have health insurance," said Beth Calhoun, Illinois Assister Training Program.
Beth Calhoun is director of the state's assister training program. She says Affordable Care offer options and assistance to this without insurance.
"Purchasing on the marketplace, depending on your income because it's a sliding scale, the lower you are, the more help you get paying your premium," said Calhoun.
Graciela Guzman will be an Assister at Prime Care Community Health, where nearly a third of the patients are uninsured.
"I think about them, and what it will mean in terms of individual care. On that level as an outreach worker, I'm really excited to be hands on," said Guzman.
Those without insurance may be eligible for financial assistance with the premiums and the out-of-pocket amount.
If you or a loved one is without insurance, now is the time to start looking at options. You have to be signed up by December 15 in order to be covered in January.
Leah wants to know your questions and concerns about the Affordable Care Act. Please CLICK HERE to post your questions or comments.
Illinois-specific ACA information:
Affordable Care Act information for Illinois
General information about the Affordable Care Act:
healthcare.gov
Great resource for small businesses and the ACA:
healthcoverageguide.org
ACA health insurance marketplace:
http://marketplace.cms.gov/getofficialresources/multimedia/multimedia.html
