New challenge for Obamacare: Enrollees who don’t understand their insurance plan

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Nonprofit organizations across the country are being swamped by consumers with questions. Many are low-income, have never had insurance and have little knowledge of the health-care system. The rampant confusion poses a potential hurdle for the success of the health law: If many Americans don’t understand how health insurance works, that could hurt their ability to use their benefits — or to keep their coverage altogether.

A federal program to help consumers has also run out of money.

Julio Herrera, 63, a construction worker, bought what he thought would be the most affordable plan when he enrolled through Maryland’s new insurance exchange this spring.

But he does not understand why he is getting charged for hospital bills when he already pays the insurance company every month. And he did not grasp this thing — a deductible — that was $4,000.

The foundation surveyed an estimated 4,400 such consumer assistance programs shortly after sign-ups ended in the spring. Ninety percent of those programs had been recontacted by consumers and 44 percent had seen people who did not understand how to use insurance, according to a foundation report released Tuesday.

Language and cultural barriers are adding to the confusion. Many clients also struggle to read and write in their native language, predominantly Spanish, making for a steeper learning curve, said Elizabeth Colvin, director of Insure Central Texas, an Austin-based nonprofit working on enrollment. The majority of the 5,647 residents the group enrolled had never had insurance before, she said.

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