TOPEKA — The Kansas Insurance Department has started a new Web site to help Kansans learn more about changes in the health insurance market in the coming months. The new federal health insurance exchange for Kansas is scheduled to begin soon, and many provisions go into effect Oct. 1. Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger said the Web site, insureks.org, features educational information about health insurance coverage through either the on-line health insurance marketplace or in the regular insurance market outside of the exchange. Among the highlights: An interactive program nicknamed “Alex” that helps a viewer learn about the 2014 health insurance changes and how they might affect their insurance situation; a premium estimator that will calculate premium costs and possible tax credits for individuals and families, based on the information they provide, brochures and FAQs that explain provisions of the health insurance law that go into effect Jan. 1, a link to the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, and information about Kansas Navigator programs, insurance agents, and other assisters that are offering personal help with understanding the law’s provisions. The health insurance marketplace is an internet portal that will allow people to sign up for health insurance as part of the new federal health reform law and to determine whether they may be eligible for financial help to pay for health insurance, she said. Although many kansans have heard a lot of scare talk about the Affordable Health Care Act, not many Kansans really know what is available, she said.. “I think that Kansans who go o-nline to the new site will find many answers to the questions that have been raised about the new health insurance provisions,” Praeger said. “We have tried to provide information and education pieces that will give them a chance to get the facts for themselves.”
Wednesday, Sept. 4, 4 p.m.
