Many enrollees asked for help during insurance benefits enrollment

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found navigators were in high demand by insurance benefits enrollees during the first open enrollment period.

The survey was conducted online, and found marketplace aids helped around 10.6 million people during the enrollment period. This number is just 2.6 million more than how many Americans signed up for insurance benefits, which may indicate that receiving help allowed some people to select a health plan from the exchanges. There were more than 4,400 assistance resources across the country, and they employed more than 28,000 people full time to assist marketplace enrollees. According to Kaiser Health News, 64 percent of these programs said they provided between one and two hours with each customer. 

One of the reasons so many people needed and sought out help in choosing their insurance benefits is because there were many plans to look through. With health insurance being so critical to many people, understanding their options and even what basic insurance terms mean was necessary for many enrollees. Education was key to people enrolling in insurance benefits through the exchanges, and navigators provided information to many Americans so they could sign up for plans.