Floridians who want health insurance starting January 1st have less than two weeks to buy it on federally-run exchanges. Until this week, the Spanish-language version of the healthcare.gov website was not equipped to sell insurance.
Originally, CuidadoDeSalud.gov was supposed to launch on October 1st along with its English twin, healthcare.gov. But just before October, the launch was pushed back to the 21st. By the time that date rolled around, it was clear that the federally-run insurance exchanges were plagued with glitches. And so the enrollment side of cuidadodesalud.gov was shelved.
That is, until this week. Over the weekend, HHS quietly launched the insurance purchasing tools on the Spanish-language site.A spokesperson from the department told the Washington Post that it was a soft launch—a few key Latino organizations had been asked to test the site and provide feedback before marketing the new function to Spanish speakers.
In Florida, nearly 1.3 million Hispanics don’t have insurance.