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Enrollment Assistance

  • Tech Tuesday: How will health coverage websites connect consumers to assistance?

    Tricia Brooks

    In this countdown to open enrollment, states are scrambling to get their MAGI-based eligibility and enrollment systems ready to go. Already, HealthCare.gov has gotten a facelift and several state based exchanges have launched their websites; all of which will serve as an entry point to the single streamlined application for all insurance affordability programs. It’s…

  • Outreach Grant Will Help California Advocates Connect More Kids to Coverage

    Guest

    By Suzie Shupe and Edgar Aguilar, California Coverage and Health Initiatives California is the most populous state in the union and home to more than 13 percent of the nation’s uninsured children. Since coverage is essential for making sure children reach their full potential, California Coverage & Health Initiatives (CCHI) is honored to receive a…

  • All Eyes on States – Time to Say Goodbye to CHIP Waiting Periods

    Elisabeth Wright Burak

    As states are rushing to get their enrollment and eligibility systems in top form going into 2014, HHS just handed them one more critical decision to make: getting rid of outdated CHIP waiting periods. Say Ahhh! readers know that eliminating CHIP waiting periods— or the period of time that a child must remain uninsured before…

  • Tech Tuesday: Technology Will Deliver Most Navigator and Assister Training

    Tricia Brooks

    As the federal government and states work toward developing training for navigators and assisters, it is likely that much of it will be web-based. Using technology to deliver training is certainly cost-effective. It enables navigator entities to get new staff trained without waiting for the next scheduled training, and allows states to making training easily…

  • State-Specific Supplemental Navigator and Assister Training

    CCFadmin

    The following outline focuses on Medicaid and CHIP policy information and training topics for which content differs from state to state, and may not be covered in-depth in federal training for navigators and other assisters. 

  • Navigator Assister Training Outline

    CCFadmin

    This comprehensive outline for navigators and other types of assisters was developed to inform the scope of training that is being developed at both the federal and state level to prepare navigators and other assisters to connect consumers to existing and expanded coverage options un the Affordable Care Act.

  • Tech Tuesday: CMS Option Provides States with a Powerful Outreach Tool

    Guest

    By Shelby Gonzales, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Connecting families to health coverage and other benefits requires comprehensive and strategic outreach.  Getting people to sign up is hard work, and it often takes time to make measurable gains in enrollment. One strategy has been extremely effective in enrolling eligible children. Using information available from…

  • CMS Releases Guidance on Alternative Application

    CCFadmin

    By Martha Heberlein The ACA requires states to use a single, streamlined application to determine eligibility for all health insurance affordability programs. Back in April, CMS released the model application that they will use in the federally-facilitated marketplaces (FFM). States can either adopt this for their own use or can use an alternative application that…

  • 100 Days to “Launch”: What a Formerly Controversial Health Program Can Teach Us

    Sabrina Corlette

    By Sabrina Corlette, Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms People, stop wringing your hands and roll up your sleeves. On Sunday, we’ll be just 100 days from the first day of open enrollment in new, high quality and affordable health insurance coverage options. As we barrel towards the finish line, pundits and policymakers have been quick…

  • Tech Tuesday: Survey of State CIOs Provides Insight on State Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment Systems

    Tricia Brooks

    This weekend, the final 100-day countdown to open enrollment begins. Will state Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems be ready? Results from a recent survey published by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) indicate that 72% of the 26 states and/or territories that responded…

  • Tech Tuesday: Technology and Website Design Matter When It Comes to Selecting a Health Plan

    Guest

    By Julie Silas, Consumers Union Over the past two years, like many of you, I have been expending my energy on fine tuning important policy positions that will impact millions of people (hello, please, no more proposed regulations!).  While I have tried to wade into the practical, concrete functionality that will be essential for those…

  • Navigator and Assister Training Is Not a One Shot Deal

    Tricia Brooks

    Now that both state-based and the federally-facilitated marketplaces are well on their way to recruiting and selecting navigators, attention turns to training and support.  Effective training is critical to ensuring that the needs of consumers, particularly low-income, hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations, are met. But training is only one element of creating and supporting a high-functioning…

  • Tech Tuesday: An Advocate’s Role in Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment System Development

    Tricia Brooks

    Even as states across the country continue to evaluate their options for implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), almost all states are moving to take advantage of significant federal funding to modernize their Medicaid information technology (IT) infrastructures in response to the new law. The decisions being made now and in the months ahead will…

  • Five Strategies to Make it Easier to Enroll in Medicaid and CHIP Coverage

    CCFadmin

    By Martha Heberlein In case you missed it, it was a beautiful day in Washington on Friday and some exciting news from CMS made the day all the brighter – a State Health Official letter they released provides states with some tools to enroll eligible folks more efficiently. Understanding that states will be facing the…

  • Assister Types Abound: But Will Navigators and Assisters Be Plentiful Enough?

    Tricia Brooks

    I was ready to wrap up this blog series last week when HHS announced an additional $150 million in funding for “Outreach and Enrollment Assisters” in community health centers to help connect consumers to coverage. There seems to be a wealth of assisters: navigators, in-person assisters, certified application counselors and now health center assisters. And…

  • Tech Tuesday – Technology Takes Over to Verify Medicaid Eligibility Electronically

    Tricia Brooks

    With new high-performing IT systems, states will be able to use cost-effective, trusted and secure electronic data sources to verify eligibility including income, citizenship, immigration status, and other criteria. States have some discretion in how they verify eligibility (i.e. what data sources they use) but they cannot require individuals to provide documentation or more information…

  • How Many Calls Does it Take to Sign Up for CHIP in Pennsylvania?

    Cathy Hope

    Eighty-six phone calls!  That’s how many calls it took new parents Ari Friedman and Tara Mendola of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to finally obtain Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage for their son.  (And we all know new parents have nothing better to do than sit on hold!) Ari and Tara are both graduate students who were…

  • Tech Tuesday – A New Blog Series Highlighting Technology and its Potential to Transform Eligibility and Enrollment

    Tricia Brooks

    I frequently marvel at the deep Medicaid and CHIP policy expertise of so many of our state and national partners. And when someone’s knowledge doesn’t run as deep, they often make up for it in their passion for expanding health care coverage. Whether you’re a seasoned advocate or new to public health coverage, it doesn’t…

  • Proposed Navigator Standards Comments Due Today

    Tricia Brooks

    Last call for comments on the HHS proposed navigator standards released last month. Comments are due by 5:00pm ET today, May 6th. The rules outline the conflict of interest and training standards that will apply to federally-funded navigators in 34 states and in-person assisters in states with state-based or consumer partnership exchanges. In addition to…

  • HHS’s New Model Application – A Major Step Forward

    CCFadmin

    By Jocelyn Guyer HHS released a new version of its model applications for health care coverage this morning.  The new models represent a major step forward – they are much shorter, crisper and easier to fill out than the draft versions that were released in January of this year. The new model applications also are…