When Yulisa entered our meeting, she showed no signs of being unable to walk just over a year ago. In November 2022, Yulisa suffered a brutal injury while playing soccer. Her right leg had twisted, causing her to sever her ACL, fracture parts of her knee, break her tibia and fibula and sprain her ankle.

Our healthcare navigators helped Yulisa. She moved from being immobile and devastated to walking and becoming an advocate for health insurance. When we learned about Yulisa, we wanted to hear her experience.

“You want me to start from the beginning beginning?” she asked, laughing with her eyebrows raised. Yulisa’s expression conveyed she had a long story to share.

After being treated in the emergency room, she left with a brace, instructions to go to an orthopedic surgeon and a large bill. Yulisa understood she must pay for her medical care from her visit out-of-pocket, in its entirety. However, the treatment didn’t come close to covering everything Yulisa would need to heal her leg and return to her normal life.

Fortunately, the hospital’s finance department knew about our healthcare navigators. They gave Yulisa our phone number and emphasized that contacting us would be her best bet to get the medical care she needed. You can get a hold of us too by calling Alaska 211.

“I called them the next day,” Yulisa recounted. Her pace picked up. “I said, ‘I’m gonna be honest. I can’t work now. I don’t have insurance, and I have no idea how I’m going to afford this.’” Yulisa’s past worry revealed itself.

Over two days, one of our healthcare navigators, Jennifer, and Yulisa spoke many times about the healthcare marketplace and developed a trusted relationship. “Jennifer and I would go back and forth on the phone,” said Yulisa. “She was so patient with me.”

Jennifer explained Yulisa’s options at www.HealthCare.gov. She talked to her about the special enrollment and open enrollment processes—both of which Yulisa could participate in. Jennifer reviewed Yulisa’s available plans and costs. She never tried to persuade her. According to Yulisa, she broke down information so she knew what she was committing to.

“I’d take it all in, get off the phone, give it some thought and call Jennifer back,” Yulisa said. “Anything I asked she had an answer.”

Yulisa picked a plan for her special enrollment that allowed her to have coverage from Dec. 1 – 31. She picked a slightly different plan for her open enrollment, which became effective Jan. 1. Health insurance covered Yulisa’s surgery and all her physical therapy, which lasted eight months. She felt like she got “a steal.”

“The deductible was a little pricier,” Yulisa noted, “but with all the expenses I accrued, it was worth it in the long run.” Since she met her out-of-pocket maximum, Yulisa took advantage of her coverage all year. “I addressed everything I could think of: My yearly checkup, ingrown toenails, dental exams and even a sports brace so I could go back to soccer and skiing.”

This terrible accident made Yulisa realize how important health insurance is. She became convinced she’d never go without it again. Yulisa also made it her mission to get her family health insurance plans too.

“Since I was already working with Jennifer, I threw the question out there about helping my parents and little sister get enrolled.” Yulisa arranged an appointment with Jennifer and her parents to get them covered too. “I wanted them to have, at least, something basic—in case anything major happened.”

Now, Yulisa’s parents, little sister and older brother all have health insurance. Jennifer helped them all enroll and has answered questions for Yulisa’s other relatives.

“Jennifer was so human and very understanding and kind,” Yulisa said. “I’d be lost if I hadn’t worked with a healthcare navigator.”

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