Call Centers and Affordable Care Act Enrollment

By Robert Porter

The Affordable Care Act will bring big changes for all Americans. During this transitional period and beyond, the American public will require help interpreting the new laws, as well as more information as to what their healthcare options are. The Department of Health and Human Services, charged with overseeing the administration of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and the call center industry will help Americans to gain an understanding of its real-life impact.

The ACA requires Medicaid agencies and health insurance exchanges (HIE) to impart information by conducting outreach and assistance initiatives for the public, business owners, and corporate human resource departments. As expected, there has been a surge of demand for knowledgeable, interactive live agents from medical call centers to handle the influx of overflow and high call volumes twenty-four hours a day. Many Medicaid and HIE offices will continue to outsource to telehealth call centers with customer service agents who, in addition to being apprised of HIPAA regulations, are also informed on the broad topic of the ACA, making them indispensable during this major shift in healthcare coverage for Americans.

As the ACA is implemented, many Americans will have questions and concerns about how it affects their insurance policies. The exchanges and the call centers they utilize will assist those individuals to sort through and streamline the enrollment process. Furthermore, bilingual live agents can address consumer questions and facilitate prompt enrollment for thousands of non-English speakers.

Many states now have a call center with a dedicated toll-free phone number to aid those seeking to unravel the complexities of the ACA program. Multiple call center facilities have garnered government contracts to route 800 number calls and field caller inquiries.

The ACA allows for a health insurance exchange – essentially a clearinghouse of medical insurance information – to provide its enrollees and prospects with competitive rates. Americans can shop for the best price and service under the HIE umbrella.

Alongside the efforts of the DHHS, nonprofit organizations like Enroll America and leading call centers continue to ramp up their agent training programs to include extensive knowledge of the ACA. This will enable virtual receptionists from qualified call centers to communicate a clear, simple breakdown of important information that will affect callers’ decision-making process.

Every American, from self-employed individuals to private industry business leaders, is wondering how the ACA will affect their lives and business dealings. Call center services with live staff will help them comprehend their options and choose wisely.

[From Connection Magazine October 2013]

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