Informing Ohioans about the ACA: A primer on consumer assistance

Recognizing the need to inform the public about health coverage changes and options and to provide enrollment assistance, the Affordable Care Act and subsequent regulations establish and define consumer assistance programs.

In this paper, consumer assistance programs are defined as those which train or certify individuals and/or organizations to assist consumers with enrolling in the marketplace.

This paper provides an overview of consumer assistance provisions of the ACA, subsequent federal and state regulations and consumer assistance efforts underway in Ohio as of mid-2014.