Health Care Specialist in the Hot Seat

by Lindsey Burks, Marketing Intern

The new health care bill has created a lot of buzz and people are more confused than ever. Corey Gilles, South Sound 2-1-1’s Health Care Specialist, takes calls five days a week answering your health care questions. Since October, Corey has been working full-time referring Pierce County residents to events and agencies that can sign them up for health care plans.

“You just need your social security number, birth date and estimated household income”, she says, “that’s all there is to it.”

Corey originally came to South Sound 2-1-1 as a work study participant who helped with basic needs referrals, but on her third anniversary she was promoted to Health Care Specialist. Her position became available because South Sound 2-1-1 was one of the winning picks for the Washington Health Benefits Exchange grant, out of 48 deserving nonprofits that applied. South Sound 2-1-1 is the lowest cost call center in Washington, costing one-third that of the average call center.

I needed a quick refresher on how the new health care plans work, so Corey gave me the run-down. She explained that there are currently three levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold. All three will generally have lower monthly premiums but higher costs for deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance. Bronze will cover about 60 percent of your health care costs. Silver will cover about 70 percent and Gold will cover about 80 percent. For women, yearly wellness exams are covered as well. No more pre-existing condition limits and no more paying higher insurance because you are a female. Other preventative services, contraceptives, maternity care, and direct access to ob-gyns are now available through all insurance plans. Starting the first of the year, these health care policies become active. Individuals must be signed up for a health care plan and pay their first month premium no later than December 15^th if they want coverage on January 1^st. For an individual the penalty for not having health insurance for at least nine months of 2014 is $95 or one percent of their income, whichever is larger; for a family the penalty is $285. The penalty fees for individuals and families will continue to rise to until 2016. At that time, if individuals or families still do not have health insurance, they will be facing penalty fees of $695 per individual and $2085 per family, respectively.

Corey took advantage of her voracious appetite for reading and earned B.A. in English Literature from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012. While in college, Corey spent many years working in retail and her favorite thing about the job was giving customers options. She hated the business tactic of selling the most expensive item. Even though it sometimes created conflict with the boss, she did right by the customer. Corey says that transitioning into health care referral came easy as she was so used to connecting with customers and helping them understand their options. On her days off, Corey spends quality time with her adorable cat, Simon and quilts extravagant gifts for her family and friends.

For answers to all of your questions about the Affordable Care Act or for more information about the health care plans and how to sign up, contact Corey Gilles in the South Sound 2-1-1 Call Center at 253-272-4263 or reach her by email at coreyg@uwpc.org.