COEUR d'ALENE - For those who need assistance configuring their health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act before January, help is out there.

Kootenai Health hosted a two-day seminar Thursday and Friday to train 23 people to become in-person assisters, or IPAs. These federally-certified individuals help clarify options when choosing health care plans. Although not affiliated with any specific insurance agencies, IPAs can walk people through the jargon and information that goes along with choosing insurance.

"This is a really cool collaborative effort with Kootenai Health and a bunch of the federally qualified health centers locally," said trainer Ashley Piaskowski, patient outreach and enrollment coordinator for Heritage Health. "It's just neat to see all of us continue working together and fostering relationships to enhance education in the area."

Employees from health care centers and hospitals in the five northern counties as well as a few volunteers learned to navigate www.yourhealthidaho.org, the website Idahoans can access to enroll in insurance plans. They also learned how to assist people with filling out applications, how to educate the public on the process and how to break down the language to make things clearer for those applying.

"The training has been invaluable in providing us with information that we are going to be able to get out to the community. It's going to be a really positive thing," said Deanna Brunk, who is interning at Kootenai Health for her master's program in social work through Boise State University.

This was the second training session since August, bringing the number of IPAs in the area to more than 50.

"It will help us be able to inform people on how the Affordable Care Act and market exchange will work," Brunk said.

IPAs cannot hold any biases or select plans for clients, but they can guide someone through the process.

"It's overwhelming, there's so many things to think about," Piaskowski said. "We just want to make sure they can make a very informed decision for their health."

She said misinformation is the biggest issue, "and then of course the media hype and just a lot of things that can add to people's anxiety than IPAs can really alleviate."

A consultation with an IPA is free. Just visit the Your Health Idaho website or call 1-855-YH-Idaho to connect with someone.

"They provide people who have never had health insurance with a face-to-face, personal connection to getting answers," Piaskowski said. "It's really important. You want to get information from a trusted source. A lot of us have experience and accurate knowledge and a network of resources and information available that really empowers IPAs to give the right information to people."

Pam Thompson, director of social services for Kootenai Health, said a surge in applications is expected toward the end of November and into January. She recommends, if you have Internet access, to get familiar with the website, download an application, fill it out and mail it (to the address on the application) so you can get the information about tax credits and health plans.

"We're gearing up because everything got off to a slow start," she said. "We're ready now for getting people enrolled."