Forums are being offered around the country about the Affordable Care Act. A group calling itself the Obamacare Enrollment Team is providing information and answering questions. But the people on the team do not work for the federal government, and they’re pushing products sold by a South Florida insurance company.
A team consisting of a Lakeland pastor and a lobbyist hosted a healthcare forum this week at a church in Tallahassee. The two-dozen attendees - mostly elderly African Americans – did not know the duo was connected to the Fiorella Insurance Agency in Stuart until reporters started asking questions.
Tia Mitchell in the Herald/Times Tallahassee bureau says the team encouraged the audience to sign up for Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Florida because that’s the only health insurance provider the Stuart firm represents in the state.
“There are other insurance companies that have policies that could qualify for the subsidies and that are on the health exchange", Mitchell said. "If these same customers went to an unbiased resource that was affiliated with the federal government, they might have had a little bit more information about the different choices.”
The Florida Attorney General’s Office has received a complaint that the Obamacare Enrollment Team is misleading consumers about who its employees work for.
Anyone looking for information about the Affordable Care Act and the insurance options available should visit healthcare.gov.