Nashville’s Uninsured Rush To Sign Up For Obamacare Health Plans Before Deadline

Sydney Jordan (right) discusses her health insurance circumstances with a certified counselor, who is waiting on hold for help from the federal Marketplace. Credit: Blake Farmer / WPLN

Nashville’s Obamacare Navigators – who help people sign up for insurance plans on the federal Marketplace – are expecting a rush over the weekend. Monday is the last day to apply for coverage and have it kick in by January 1^st.

Sydney Jordan showed up to the Nashville Financial Empowerment Center to work with a counselor on Thursday. She works at Thistle Farms after graduating from the related rehab program.

“I mean, I’m not going to be 27 forever,” Jordan said. “I’m not going to be perfectly healthy forever. It’s just not going to happen. I wish, but it’s just not going to happen.”

Last year, Jordan gave up on getting coverage because it cost more than she expected. She says she doesn’t want to get stuck with paying another penalty.

Jordan has gotten care at clinics that charge discounted rates, but she’s worried about the possibility of being hospitalized.

“Anything could happen. I could come up with cancer,” Jordan said. “I can’t be worried about paying thousands of dollars out of my pocket that I don’t have.”

In Obamacare’s first year, 151,000 Tennesseans purchased plans on the federal Marketplace. But twice that many were determined eligible to enroll, according to data analyzed by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Through December 7th, official Navigators say they’ve helped 395 people in Nashville apply for coverage.

Last year, 21,522 people in Davidson County purchased insurance through HealthCare.gov, just a few hundred shy of how many bought insurance from Shelby County, which is the state’s most populous county.

Here’s a breakdown by county and zip code. Antioch’s 37013 led the state in the last enrollment period, closely followed by neighboring 37211.