Navigators are ready to help consumers enroll/update coverage through Jan. 15, 2025.
Raleigh, N.C. – The NC Navigator Consortium kicked off HealthCare.gov Open Enrollment 2025 today with a press conference in Charlotte to explain the final rule that allows DACA recipients and other immigrant groups to purchase health insurance through HealthCare.gov. The event also included guest speaker Endy Mendez who is a DACA recipient and Health Insurance Navigator working for the NC Navigator Consortium in Winston-Salem, N.C. After the press conference, held at the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Navigators helped consumers enroll in and update their HealthCare.gov plans. Open Enrollment will run Nov. 1, 2024, through Jan. 15, 2025. More information is available at ncnavigator.org. Photo and video assets from the Nov. 1 press conference are available at this link.
During Open Enrollment, Health Insurance Navigators work with North Carolinians to maximize their Health Insurance Marketplace® coverage by:
- Taking time with them to help avoid mistakes
- Showing all options, ensuring their providers are in-network
- Explaining terminology and processes, increasing health insurance literacy
- Assisting them with estimating their income for the year ahead, one of the most difficult parts of the HealthCare.gov application process
Health Insurance Navigators are available year-round for questions and to address other issues like qualifying life events, special open enrollment periods and income adjustments. Navigators also help those eligible enroll in NC Medicaid.
“The new rule that takes effect today marks an important milestone for the more than 20,000 DACA recipients residing in North Carolina,” said Nicholas Riggs, director of the NC Navigator Consortium. “DACA recipients now join other lawfully present immigrants in being eligible for Marketplace plans, and may qualify for premium tax credits and other savings.”
According to HealthCare.gov: “The term ‘lawfully present’ includes immigrants who have:
- ‘Qualified non-citizen’ immigration status.
- Humanitarian statuses or circumstances (including Temporary Protected Status, Special Juvenile Status, asylum applicants, Convention Against Torture, and victims of trafficking).
- Valid non-immigrant visas.
- Legal status conferred by other laws (temporary resident status, LIFE Act, Family Unity individuals).”
“I am a DACA recipient myself and am currently struggling with renal failure,” said Mendez, a dedicated advocate for the immigrant community in Forsyth and Guilford Counties, N.C. “The lack of access to (the Affordable Care Act) had a huge impact in my life last year.” Mendez has been a Health Insurance Navigator since July 2024, helping others gain access to affordable health coverage.
“There are still many subsidies and tax credits available through HealthCare.gov, and four out of five families can get coverage for less than $10 a month,” added Riggs. “It’s important to remember that those who are eligible for NC Medicaid can also use our Health Insurance Navigators to learn more and enroll.”
Started in 2014, the NC Navigator Consortium is the only federally funded Navigator entity in the state that serves all 100 counties across North Carolina. Learn more at ncnavigator.org, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Members of the Consortium are Access East, Care Ring, CareReach, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, Council on Aging of Buncombe County, Cumberland HealthNET, HealthNet Gaston, Kintegra Health, Mountain Projects, NC Field and Pisgah Legal Services. The Consortium is led by Legal Aid of North Carolina.
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers to economic opportunity. Learn more at legalaidnc.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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The project described was supported by Funding Opportunity number CMS-NAV-24-001 from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The contents provided are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of HHS or any of its agencies.
Pictured left to right are Cassidy Estes-Rogers, Interim Chief Operating Officer of the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy; Erendira “Endy” Mendez, DACA recipient (originally from Mexico City) and health insurance navigator for the NC Navigator Consortium and advocate for the immigrant community in Forsyth and Guilford Counties, North Carolina; Nicholas Riggs, Director of the NC Navigator Consortium; Carolyn Allison, CEO at the Charlotte Community Health Clinic, Inc.; Natalie Marles, Health Insurance Navigator Program Manager for the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy