Reporter & Editor
Kissell is a writer and editor in Southern California. The former editor of OC Weekly, he has written for such publications as The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, Zócalo Public Square, Outside Traveler and American Way. A fluent Spanish-speaker with expertise covering news, arts and politics, Kissell was a Fulbright Scholar to Mexico, where he researched bilingual education in indigenous communities.
In California, Certified Enrollment Counselors fill a role under the Affordable Care Act similar to the one that’s often described as a “navigator” on a national level. But under Covered California, CECs and navigators are not the same thing.
Insurance agents believe they were an afterthought for Covered California, which from the get-go, placed the emphasis on training county health care workers and counselors at nonprofits to help people find the right coverage for them.
When Covered California reports its health insurance enrollment figures each month, one worrying statistic consistently jumps out –- the low number of Latinos signing up. This became the top news story out of the exchange in January, overshadowing the overall positive numbers.
In California, the effort to get people signed up for insurance has proceeded with little partisan rancor, and at a quickening pace. December enrollment was nearly four times that of October and November combined. Nonetheless, millions of Californians remain uninsured.
