FY14 Partnerships to Increase Coverage in Communities Initiative

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The Affordable Care Act establishes a new Health Insurance Marketplace, also known as the Marketplace, which enables millions of individual to purchase affordable health insurance coverage. The Affordable Care Act creates a streamlined system for helping people connect with the health coverage options that best meet their needs and maximizing electronic data exchanges and other technology to reduce the application burden. Some of the features of the Marketplace include: 1) the option for eligible individuals to apply for affordable health insurance programs (Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and premium tax credits for Marketplace coverage); and 2) enabling individuals and families to apply for coverage using a single streamlined application. Outreach efforts continue to be needed to ensure that minority populations understand these health insurance options and receive the assistance they need to purchase covera ge through the Marketplace as smoothly as possible. For more information on the Health Insurance Marketplace and the health care law, visit www.HealthCare.gov.The Affordable Care Act aims to reduce the number of uninsured and the overall costs of health care. Minority populations are at disproportionate risk of being uninsured. For the purpose of this announcement, “minority populations” are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, consistent with the Standards for Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. However, services under this Initiative will not be denied to any person based on race, color, or national origin.Minority populations stand to particularly benefit from the Affordable Care Act’s efforts to expand health insurance coverage. Nonelderly Hispanics have the highest uninsured rate, with nearly one in three lacking coverage (32%), followed by American Indians/Alaska Natives (27%), Blacks (21%), and Asians/Pacific Islanders (18%), who are all more likely than Whites (13%) to be uninsured. The actions under this Initiative will provide funding to successful applicants to identify, recruit, and educate underserved minority populations about the Marketplace and to assist them with completion of the streamlined health insurance application to determine their eligibility to purchase health insurance from a plan offered through the Marketplace or for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). These applicants will also help minority populations find coverage that meets their needs and the needs of their families. Successful applicants w ill work with their current coalitions/partners to develop and implement a strategy to identify, assist and educate eligible minorities about the Affordable Care Act, the Federally-facilitated Marketplace and the application process. Applicants in states without a Federally-facilitated Marketplace may also apply for these funds, as well as those with a State-Partnership Marketplace. However, they must work with their State-based Marketplace to receive training and educational materials. Successful applicants in States with a Federally-facilitated Marketplace will use materials developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the Affordable Care Act, the Health Insurance Marketplace, and the Marketplace application process to ensure that the information given to the underserved minority populations is consistent and correct. Successful applicants will also need to comply with any applicable CMS and/or state training, education, and certification requi rements if they are performing enrollment activities. Assistance offered in completing the application should be culturally and linguistically appropriate.

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