Tears have flowed freely at the Fairhope Public Library recently. For many, they were tears of joy; for a few, tears of sadness.

Sally Ansell and Hannah Duncan have been among those crying at the library. So have the people they’ve met there. Sally is a volunteer “navigator” enrolling people in insurance plans under Obamacare, and Hannah oversees enrollment in 10 south Alabama counties.

Sally and Hannah tell lots of happy stories. A woman came to Sally last week. She had a “preexisting medical condition,” so insurance companies had refused to insure her. “We were able to enroll her, with a subsidy that meant she could afford the premiums,” Sally told me. “The woman broke into tears and said, ‘This means I won’t have to go to the emergency room any more.’”

“I saw a married couple last Tuesday,” Hannah said. “He had insurance, but it didn’t cover his wife. She worked part time and had no benefits. We got her a good subsidy and an affordable plan. I enjoy making people happy. She hugged me before she left. These people are just overwhelmed when they realize they can now afford health insurance. Some of them have never had it before.”

“I worked with a single woman recently who was paying $477 a month for her health insurance,” Hannah said. “Hers was a private plan bought on her own that didn’t cover a lot of conditions. I helped her enroll in the more comprehensive plan and at a much lower premium.”

Not all Sally’s and Hannah’s stories are happy ones, though.

“I had to turn someone down yesterday,” Sally told me. “He and his wife had a combined income of $12,000 a year. That meant they were too poor to qualify for a subsidy to enable them to buy their own insurance. The new healthcare law was intended to cover people like that couple through an expanded Medicaid program, but states had the option of saying no to expanded Medicaid. Alabama said no.”

“I thought the new law was to make health insurance possible for everybody,” the man said.

“That was the idea,” Sally told him, “and people of your income level were to get their insurance through expanded Medicaid. But Alabama refused to expand Medicaid.” Sally had to tell that man that if he and his wife lived in another state, they would have affordable insurance. “That brought tears to my eyes,” Sally said.

Some think Obamacare is a form of socialized medicine. It’s not. Socialized medicine is a government-run program, but Obamacare is meant to help low-income people not covered by Medicaid to enroll in private insurance plans.

One man recently said, “I want medical insurance, but I don’t want Obamacare.” Sally explained that Obamacare is not an insurance program — that would be socialized medicine. But it enables people to buy the same policy, from the same insurer, that other people either get through their employer or pay for themselves. Through Obamacare many people receive discounts to help pay their premiums.

“In Baldwin County only one company offers insurance through Obamacare,” Sally explains. “It’s Blue Cross Blue Shield. That’s both good news and bad news. The good news is that virtually every doctor and hospital in the state is in the Blue Cross Blue Shield system. The bad news is that with no competition, insurance may cost more than it would elsewhere.”

Five million Americans to date have gotten insurance through Obamacare, but the open enrollment period ends on Monday of next week, March 31. After that, enrollment will not be possible again until November. So if you need medical insurance, act now. And don’t wait until Monday, when there may be a rush of people trying to enroll at the last minute.

Hannah and Sally have high praise for the staff at the Fairhope Public Library, who have cooperated with them in every way. They will be at the library tonight (Tuesday) from 5:30 to 7:30, on Friday from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you want to meet with a navigator at another Baldwin County location or at another time, call Sally at 251-928-2857 or Hannah at 205-354-5189. But act fast!

Richard H. Schmidt is a retired Episcopal priest, editor and author who lives in Fairhope. He can be reached at courier@gulfcoastnewspapers.com.