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Insurance Navigators Experiencing 'High Demand' During Obamacare Sign Up

tumsasedgars via iStock

Utahns employed to help people navigate signing up for Obamacare insurance are busier than usual. That's after two weeks in the 2017 open enrollment period.

Specific enrollment numbers for states aren’t available yet for the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. But according to Randall Serr with the Utah Health Policy Project, their staff has been busy.

"All of our in-house assisters are booked about three weeks out. So we’re experiencing really high demand, probably higher than we’ve ever experienced before," he says. 

Serr says they’re likely busy for a few reasons. There’s been lots of talk about the Affordable Care Act this year, both good and bad, so it’s on people’s minds. They also have less staff to do the job. In September his nonprofit lost half of their enrollment help staff to Obamacare budget cuts from the Trump administration.

There has been a bright spot at his organization. Serr says they’ve had more volunteers offering to do community outreach and education than ever before. 

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