By Christina Leslie | Correspondent

St. Francis Medical Center is aiding Trenton-area residents untangle the complicated web of insurance options now open to all Americans through a series of workshops and individual counseling sessions at their Hamilton medical facilities.

The new Affordable Care Act required all U.S. residents to have health insurance as of Jan. 1, 2014; beginning Oct. 1 of last year, millions of uninsured people were given the opportunity to shop at a new, online health insurance marketplace for a health plan that fit their budget and coverage needs. Realizing many would find this new system unnavigable, St. Francis Medical Center began a community outreach program to educate applicants on their options as they registered for an appropriate plan.

The hospital teamed with the New Jersey Hospital Association, a not-for-profit trade organization committed to delivering support and services to the state’s hospitals and other healthcare providers, to ask military veterans trained as certified application counselors to work with applicants three days per week. St. Francis staff members have joined with these veterans as of Feb. 3, and the hospital currently features a certified application counselor on location weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“We see folks all the time in the clinic,” said Christine M. Fares Walley, St. Francis Hospital director of marketing and business development. Initial glitches with the government website made paper applications necessary, “but now we sit with [the clients] as they apply online,” she noted. Fares Walley reported that, since Nov. 1, the program has assisted over 150 people.

In addition to those who can join one of the multi-tiered government health insurance plans, other clients are eligible to leave the hospital’s charity care rolls and apply for the new expanded Medicaid system for the first time. St. Francis counselors are equipped to assist these clients as well. 

The average client assisted at the clinic is middle aged, over 25 years old but not yet a senior citizen, Fares Walley said. Most of them are unemployed or underemployed and new to the health care systems, so counseling sessions are an integral part of understanding the new legislation.

For those web-savvy applicants, the St. Francis Hospital website lists numerous resources, links and a help line to access information on the new health care programs. “This is in line with our mission, to dispel fear and complexity. We are dedicated to these advocacy efforts in hopes that all individuals have access to health care,” Fares Walley stated. “Even bare bones insurance is better than what we have now.”

The hospital has partnered with LALDEP (Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund) to offer on-site community education nights to explain the programs and enroll people in a plan. An evening session is scheduled for Feb.18 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the hospital’s Crean Hall (Nursing school auditorium) at 601 Hamilton Ave.

Saturday afternoon sessions on March 8 and 29 will be held 1 to 4 p.m. at the hospital’s LIFE St. Francis location, 1435 Liberty Street, Hamilton. “These are family friendly,” stressed Fares Walley. “We’ll show videos and have healthy snacks for the children.”

The hospital plans an additional community outreach projects in the form of a postcard mailing to small businesses in the area; they will also reach out to local churches and the Trenton school system, Fares Walley said. St. Francis will assist applicants through the end of March, the initial registration period for the healthcare rollout.

Fares Walley advised individuals attending personal or workshop sessions to bring proof of their income in the form of a pay stub, W-2, or last year’s tax return; the Social Security numbers of all people they wish to enroll; proof of identification; and proof of any medical insurance they might have had in 2013.

For more information on the program or workshops, contact St. Francis Medical Center at 609-599-6489 or see their website at www.stfrancismedicalcenter.org.