About 140,000 Maine residents have no healthcare insurance and are eligible for coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), said guest speaker Malory Shaughnessy at the Lincoln County Democrats meeting on October 23.

Shaughnessy is Outreach and Education Specialist with Maine Community Health Options (MCHO), a nonprofit health insurance cooperative. MCHO is one of two insurers offering policies through Maine’s health insurance marketplace, the other being Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

After reviewing the need for affordable health care and the many benefits people are already experiencing under ACA, Shaughnessy gave a lively presentation about its improvements to health care coverage. She discussed eligibility requirements, costs, and calculation of tax credits to offset the cost for those who earn between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($11,490 to $45,960 for individuals, $19,530 to $78,120 for a family of three).

To be eligible under the ACA in Maine, adults need to be lawfully present in the U.S., Maine residents, not incarcerated, not covered by their or their spouse's coverage through work, not covered by Medicare, and earning at least $11,490 for individuals, $19,530 for a family of three.

“MCHO has already received a huge number of calls from people interested in enrolling,” said Shaughnessy. Referring to the problems with enrolling online, she said that many of those problems take place early in the enrollment process.

She then demonstrated MCHO's website, showing how people can compare plans, get quotes for various plans, and complete some of the preliminary enrollment steps before getting to the government site.

People can also go to Anthem's Web site, to navigators available to assist applicants, or their insurance brokers for help.

There is another provision of the ACA that expands coverage offered by the federal Medicaid program to include millions of those earning less than the poverty levels (stated above). The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that individual states may opt out of this expanded Medicaid program. Maine is one of the states that have so far chosen not to participate. That choice means that about 26,000 Maine residents are left with no health insurance coverage.

The future of Medicaid expansion in Maine is the topic of the next meeting of the Lincoln County Democratic Committee. It will be held at the Newcastle Community Room at the Fire House on River Road on Wednesday, November 20. A 30-minute social gathering will start at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will get underway at 7 p.m. All Democrats and supporters, Independents and Greens are invited. For more information, go to www.lincolncountydemocrats.org.