CHARLESTON W.Va. — It's that time again: Affordable Care Act advocates and health care advocates are encouraging everyone to enroll in ACA Marketplace Plans after 25 million people still lack the coverage they need to stay healthy.

Representatives from West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, along with those from West Virginia Navigator, were on hand to discuss the start of the health care open enrollment season on Wednesday ahead of the start date on Friday, November 1st.

Ellen Allen, executive director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, said she understands that times are difficult for many West Virginians right now as rising costs have left them worried about making ends meet, let alone making ends meet , being able to afford health insurance is more hopeful than ever.

“The ACA has made health insurance much more affordable, more affordable than ever before,” Allen said.

Allen said 6%, or over 100,000 people in the state are still uninsured, primarily due to inflation and rising costs.

However, she said that with the Affordable Care Act's expansion of access, uninsured rates have dropped significantly in recent years, continuing to provide affordable health care for all West Virginia families.

“We can count on this, even in years when there is no inflation, we know that health care will increase, but the ACA expanded health insurance to millions of Americans and West Virginians, and West Virginia saw the greatest growth.” Everyone state of the country last year,” she said.

Allen said last year, more than 51,000 West Virginia residents enrolled in a plan through the ACA Marketplace, and enrollment in the state has increased 179% since 2020.

She said the historic legislation eliminated lifetime caps on health insurance, expanded Medicaid and secured coverage for millions of pre-existing conditions.

Kanawha County resident and cancer survivor Rusty Williams also spoke about open enrollment at Wednesday's press conference. He said the ACA ultimately saved his life.

In 2012, Williams said he woke up on Mother's Day with the worst pain he had ever felt, and within hours he was diagnosed with late-stage testicular cancer.

He said at that point, before the ACA began rolling out, he was at a loss.

“This was before the first stages of the Affordable Care Act began to be implemented, so people could still be discriminated against based on pre-existing conditions and things like that, and I was one of those people,” he said. “They basically said you need emergency surgery, this is bad, how can you pay for this?”

Williams said he spent the next six weeks fighting for coverage when he should have been focused solely on his battle with cancer.

Then, he said, the initial tiers of the ACA began to open, fundamentally changing his entire situation and giving him the health care he needed to live.

“I firmly believe that without the Affordable Care Act and without the expansion of Medicaid, I wouldn't be here today, on behalf of all West Virginians, all the Mountaineers who did that.” “If I'm in my shoes , “I can’t say enough about the Affordable Care Act and what it’s doing for me,” Williams said.

Nicki Bailey, assistant director of the WV Navigator program, said if you don't have health insurance through a job, Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program or another program, you can find it through the Marketplace, and she encourages everyone to do so .

Bailey reiterates that plans on the marketplace are much more affordable than ever due to recent changes.

“In fact, 97 percent of West Virginians who applied last year were able to receive subsidies to lower those premiums, and about four and five are eligible for plans that start under $10 a month,” she said.

Bailey said and they are plans that cover everything a person needs.

She said WV Navigator staff will sit down with consumers and work with them on everything they need to know about the registration process and then help them sign up either in person at one of their offices across the state, over the phone or by phone at one of their open registration events they plan to hold.

WV Navigator is a free, nonprofit program available to all state residents that provides free healthcare enrollment assistance. You can visit them on their website or Facebook page to find an open enrollment event near you, or call them at (304)356-5834 for assistance.

Open enrollment for ACA Marketplace benefits runs through January 15th. However, Bailey said you must enroll by Dec. 15 if you want your coverage to begin Jan. 1.

Allen adds that studies continue to show how important health insurance really is.

“You know, healthy people make for healthy communities and economies. Studies confirm that health insurance improves access to care and supports positive health outcomes, including an individual’s sense of their own health and well-being.”