Many people find the Affordable Care Act confusing, and they are not sure how it could affect them.

To help explain the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — and to help alleviate confusion surrounding it, the Agape Community Health Clinic in Washington is presenting a program about the Affordable Care Act from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Nov. 25 at Brown Library. The program is designed to help people navigate their way through the components and requirements of the Affordable Care Act, said Claudia Stokes, spokeswoman for the clinic.

“It will offer needed information to folks who pretty much do not quite understand what the new laws mean to them, as well as give them an understanding how the health-care exchange works for them,” Stokes said. “We’ll have certified application counselors on site who, after we do the presentation, will be able to answer any questions they may have.”

Stokes gave other reasons why the clinic is offering the program.

“The new laws have pretty much — all over the United States, all federally qualified health centers have certified application counselors. That’s they way it was set up by the federal government. Of course, we are FQHC and we have to implement the program,” Stokes said.

Stokes anticipates people who come to the program will ask a variety of questions while there.

“A lot of people are just not understanding the concept of being made to get the health-care coverage from the beginning. It’s leaving confusion for everybody,” said Stokes, the act’s outreach and enrollment coordinator for Beaufort and Martin counties.

In addition to alleviating confusion over the Affordable Care Act, another goal of the program is to “assess the need of the consumer to see any ways that we can make the process a little easier and to facilitate that enrollment process.”

The new laws require that individuals have health insurance in place by 2014. The Health Insurance Marketplace was established to help those people obtain health insurance so they are not penalized for not having health insurance. That system is also knows as the health insurance “exchange.” The system tells people if they are eligible for free or low-cost coverage available through Medicaid of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Most Americans will be eligible to use the system.

Counselors at the Nov. 25 program, based on a person’s responses, will direct people to the resources they need, Stokes noted.

The clinic is already providing counseling and educating people about the Affordable Care Act, Stokes said. The upcoming program is an extension of the clinic’s outreach and education efforts to familiarize people throughout Beaufort and Martin counties about the Affordable Care Act, she said.

The clinic will make appointments for and accept walk-in visits for people who want to learn about the Affordable Care Act, Stokes said. To make an appointment, call 252-940-0602.

Clinic staff has undergone much training in preparation to assist people with complying with the act’s requirements, Stokes said.

“We help people daily. Our staff is trained to help people with the Affordable Care Act’s entirety,” Stokes said. “We’ve served quite a few folks. … There still are a lot of folks in the county who need to comply or face that penalty.”

Brown Library is located at 122 Van Norden St. Washington. Agape Community Health Clinic is located at 120 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Washington.