Shop for health care at Heavin and Associates

Now five years old, the Affordable Care Act remains a mystery to many consumers shopping for health insurance, said Will Heavin, president of Heavin & Associates Insurance Agency Inc. Heavin has 31 years’ experience in the health insurance business. Until the new health law, his main focus was on providing insurance policies for small businesses.
The company opened its doors as a retail health insurance agency serving individuals and families as well as small businesses when the Affordable Insurance Exchanges first began operating in January 2014. The Affordable Care Act was approved by Congress in March 2010. Phased in over the next four years, the act was designed to offer insurance to people who can’t get it through their employers. In Corpus Christi, that’s a lot of people.
“Only 48 percent of local businesses offer health insurance,” Heavin said. “The majority of people that have jobs don’t have coverage at work, and they don’t know where to go to get it. “ 
Nov. 1 is the official start date for the open enrollment period for health insurance, now in its second year. Anyone wanting to sign up for a plan or who needs to apply for a cost-sharing subsidy or plan discount has until Jan. 31, 2016. 
Heavin began researching retail health insurance agencies in 2013 when the Individual Mandate part of the law went into effect. The Individual Mandate requires those without insurance to get it or face a fine.
His research, along with a tour of another retail center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, led Heavin to open his retail enrollment center in the Coastal Bend. It is the only retail insurance center allowing individuals to walk in, ask questions and receive assistance as they begin the actual enrollment process. 
“Getting insurance is one thing,” Heavin said. “Having someone to go to to help with all the issues that come up after the sell is another.”
A staff of 17 employees, many of whom are bilingual, helps customers with everything from billing to claims to finding a doctor. They also help with the basic understanding of what health care is and how it works.
“Eighty percent of the people we are signing up now have not had health care for five years or more,” Heavin said. “They don’t know what’s a deductible, a co-pay, what’s a subsidy. We can help do more than enroll you. We are there to help afterwards, too.” 
Many of the navigators who help enroll customers into different exchanges are only open during the enrollment period. Once the deadline passes, they go away.
“People have nowhere to go,” Heavin said. 
Since Heavin and Associates first opened its doors, the company has enrolled more than 2,100 people.
“That’s just a drop in the bucket” when it comes to the number of uninsured in the area, Heavin said. 
“Texas is the highest uninsured state in the nation,” he said. “Nueces County is one of the highest uninsured counties, and as you go out toward Kingsville, Beeville, Alice, Rockport, etcetera, the uninsured rate goes up.”
One in three people — or a little more than 70,000 — are uninsured. 
As the enrollment period draws near, Heavin and his staff have been conducting information sessions featuring each carrier they provide: Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, United Healthcare and, as of Jan. 1, the local Christus Plan.
Heavin’s dedication to providing the best health services available was honored earlier this year when he was named the 2015 Small Business Person of the Year by Del Mar College Small Business Development Center. As a seasoned professional who has seen many changes in the industry, Heavin stays positive about the future.
“The law has made people conscious of the need for health coverage,” he said. 
Heavin and Associates has helped them, in turn, learn how to buy affordable health care for themselves and their families. 
To learn more, individuals can call Heavin & Associates at (361) 852-8005, drop by at 4717 Gollihar in Corpus Christi or visit www.coastalbendbenefits.com. Learn more about the Affordable Health Care Act at www.cchealthcoverage.com.