An enrollment center for Covered California is open through Feb. 15, 2015 at the South Bay Pavilion in Carson. Open to all legal residents of Los Angeles County, interested parties may visit and sign-up for healthcare coverage from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Kelly Rolfe Financial Services, adjacent to JC Penny, will conduct the enrollments.
Enrollment requires either a valid California driver’s license or state identification card; each family member applying for coverage must present proof of current income (2013 tax return or paycheck stub), a birth certificate, social security number and home zip code. Other identification necessary for enrollment may include a valid U.S. passport, a legal residency card, and/or a certificate of citizenship or naturalization.
“We’re up and running and things are looking very positive,” said Rev. James Rolfe of First Church of Inglewood. A federal grant of $500,000 was awarded to operate the center, and officials have since hired 17 counselors to help persons “navigate” their way through the sign-up process. “That’s exactly what the grant is being used for. It’s called a “navigator” grant specifically for community outreach, education and enrollment purposes. We’re open for all legal residents of L.A. County, and we’ll have some special events in order to spread the word that here is an opportunity to get health care coverage that is so desperately needed in many undeserved communities.”
Rolfe said enrollment numbers so far have been positive “but slow” because many persons have still not opted to take advantage of the opportunity.
“Sometimes our community can be slow to react, but the word is definitely out now. It’ll pick up…we will have a bigger turnout this second time around because more emphasis is being placed on informing persons in the inner city,” Rolfe said.
Local churches have become instrumental this year in the enrollment process. Blue Shield of California has been working with various congregations—including Mount Moriah Baptist Church in South L.A.—to get more persons insured. “The church has the advantage of notifying its congregation and the community at large that here is an opportunity to have health care coverage at a very minimal cost,” Rolfe explained. “We want people to not only sign-up, but to take advantage and meet with their health care provider. You can use this enrollment for a free check-up. Our mission is to help promote good health in the community. See your provider now, and not when symptoms of illness get so severe that when you do see a doctor, it may be too late.”
Last winter, African American enrollment in Covered California saw disappointing figures. Although African Americans comprise 7 percent of the state population (17 percent of the state’s uninsured), only 3 percent of Blacks signed up for coverage. This was the population President Obama wanted to focus on when outlining the program six years ago. There has also been low enrollment among Latinos who comprise about 46 percent of the state’s uninsured population. Last winter, Latinos comprised about 20 percent of enrollees, though these numbers have picked up since then.
In March, Covered California announced that African American enrollment peaked at just 3.1 percent with 30,774 persons enrolled. White, Latino and Asian enrollments significantly outpaced Black registration with 349,959, 252,167 and 211,667 sign-ups respectively. Black community leaders expressed concerns that not enough uninsured persons were being enrolled and reached.
“That’s why we’re here. We want to conduct more outreach, because many thousands of (eligible) Black persons simply did not get the proper information on cost, coverage options and availability of service,” Rolfe added. “This time we are going to publicize this opportunity to more persons.”
Besides the South Bay Pavilion, enrollment may be processed through the 2015 deadline at the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Plaza (Crenshaw Health Partners, second floor next to Sears open during mall hours). “We want our community to fully take advantage of this opportunity for healthcare coverage,” Rolfe said.
For more information or to make an appointment at the South Bay Pavilion, call (888) 838-3332 or e-mail info@krfs.org. Contact Crenshaw Health Partners at (310) 736-8722 or visit www.crenshawhealthpartners.org.
