Erik Furness meets with Antoinette Kraus with the Pennsylvania Health Access Network to begin the process of signing up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act, Monday, March 31, 2014, at Project HOME's St. Elizabeths Community and Wellness Center in Philadelphia.
Brett Sholtis is WITF’s Transforming Health reporter, covering health care and community health issues affecting Pennsylvanians. His work often focuses on mental health policy and how it interacts with policing and prisons. Sholtis’ 2019 profile of a young woman with a serious mental illness was recognized with a Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) regional Edward R. Murrow award. In 2020 a follow-up to that story helped get that woman moved from county jail to a psychiatric facility. That story and a related story were honored with three 2020 RTDNA regional Edward R. Murrow awards: hard news, news series and investigative reporting. He is the host of Transforming Health’s annual “A Summer Read” book series, where he has led public conversations with Sheryl Sandberg, Sue Klebold and Sam Quinones. Sholtis also has reported extensively on Pennsylvania’s response to the coronavirus, election-year social unrest in Harrisburg and the opioid epidemic. His 2020 story, “Voices from a shutdown protest turned GOP rally” was recognized with RTDNA’s regional excellence in writing award. He is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the NPR/Kaiser Health News team. Previously he worked as a business reporter at York Daily Record, where he was recognized for his work on nuclear waste and food safety. Sholtis is a University of Pittsburgh graduate and a Pennsylvania Army National Guard Kosovo campaign veteran.
(Harrisburg) — It’s open enrollment for Affordable Care Act health insurance — and for companies that may be trying to take advantage of consumers.
The state Insurance Department says it’s getting reports that robo-callers are claiming to sell insurance that is cheaper than what’s provided on the ACA marketplace.
Some callers are falsely claiming to be from the insurance department, said David Buono, consumer liaison for the department.
“If somebody is saying they’re from the PA insurance department, and they say they’re selling health insurance — it’s not us. We don’t sell health insurance. We’re the regulators of insurance companies.”
Other callers may be selling insurance that doesn’t cover basic services. After the Trump administration loosened regulations on short term, limited duration insurance, companies have popped up trying to sell those products.
Buono noted, open enrollment ends December 15, and people can sign up at healthcare.gov.
