Help us Cover Mississippi!

The next open enrollment period for the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace will begin on  March 15 and continues through April 30, 2015.

The Mississippi Hospital Association is committed to helping consumers connect with health insurance coverage and supporting providers during this period of great change in our nation’s healthcare delivery system. The Health Insurance Marketplace makes it easy for Mississippians to compare qualified health plans, get answers to questions, find out if they are eligible for lower costs for private insurance or health programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and enroll in health coverage. Currently, 20% of our state's population is uninsured.

Hospitals have the ability to reach the uninsured in ways that government efforts simply cannot. We have a unique understanding of the barriers that consumers in  our communities face as we work firsthand with the uninsured day in and out. Many of our state's uninsured have trusted, longstanding relationships with our hospitals. MHA is committed to providing the information, education and resources healthcare providers need for successful implementation.

The Affordable Care Act fundamentally changes the way people will enroll in health coverage. Instead of having to apply for each program separately, people will now be able to enroll in the appropriate program without regard to where or how they apply for that program. Even hospitals that do not have the capacity to provide personalized enrollment assistance can participate in the new “no wrong door” enrollment system by offering uninsured consumers access to the internet, phones, or other tools that will give applicants the ability to enroll through an exchange’s website or hotline. Any hospital with a website, for example, can connect people to the new enrollment system by providing a link to the exchange website.

Approximately 78 percent of consumers who will be eligible for new health coverage under the Affordable Care Act have never heard of the health insurance exchanges and 60 percent said they will need help navigating the new system - so you can see that we have much work to do. But, together, we can make a difference.

This site will serve as a resource to help Mississippi hospitals help their patients enroll in insurance programs. If you have questions or need more information, contact Shawn Rossi at (800) 289-8884, (601) 368-3237 or srossi@mhanet.org.  

 

Latest News On Outreach and Enrollment

• MHA members: For the latest news, be sure and join the ACA Enrollment Community on MHA Connect. (If you need your username/password, email srossi@mhanet.org.) 
• Share answers to hundreds of FAQs about the ACA
• Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator (estimates how much premiums will cost)
• #Ready4OE2: Effective Strategies for the Second Open Enrollment Period
• Health Insurance Exchanges: Health Insurance “Navigators” and In-Person Assistance (Congressional Research Service)
• Enroll America's CAC Organization Toolkit
• Exchange Assisters Want More Training To Help Consumers — Even After They Enroll
• Kaiser Survey Reports on Assisters’ Efforts During ACA Enrollment: An estimated 10.6 million people nationally received assistance from navigators and certified application counselors during the Affordable Care Act’s first open enrollment period, according to a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
• New Guidance on Keeping Marketplace Enrollees Covered for 2015
• Medicaid Fact Sheets: Basics for Consumers (updated)
• CMS launched a national project to help Americans newly insured through health insurance marketplaces, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicare understand their benefits and connect to primary care and preventive services. The initiative, “From Coverage to Care,” includes a “roadmap” guide to health insurance and choosing a health care provider, including the difference between primary and emergency care and in- and out-of-network care. Other resources include a series of consumer videos, and a discussion guide for community partners and assisters helping newly insured Americans understand their coverage. Questions about the initiative may be emailed to Coveragetocare@cms.hhs.gov.
• New Fact Sheet: Planning a Phone-a-Thon to Reach Consumers
• How to help residents in states not expanding Medicaid 
• This Identity Proofing and Inconsistencies FAQ responds to a number of questions that have been received.
• Enroll America has updated their Presumptive Eligibilty Toolkit for hospitals
• The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) recently launched the website for the National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative (NDNRC), an initiative aimed at providing cross-disability information and support to Navigators and other enrollment specialists to assist people with disabilities seeking accurate information when selecting and enrolling in insurance through the new health insurance Marketplaces. The site has news and resources designed to support groups who are providing enrollment assistance to consumers with disabilities as they enroll for coverage through the marketplaces. AAHD plans to add a technical assistance guide to inform navigators and other enrollment specialists about special considerations people with disabilities face as they shop for healthcare coverage.  
• New Enroll America Fact Sheets on application assistance and outreach planning: Application Assistance 101,  Outreach Planning 2.0 and How To Create an Outreach Work Plan.
• The federal government plans to release exchange enrollment figures once a month  and give more demographic information in future updates. States have different timetables for releasing their statistics, and to keep track of it all, the Kaiser Family Foundation has a new tool: the State Marketplace Statistics.
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently issued additional guidance for organizations applying to become designated Certified Application Counselors in states with federally-facilitated health insurance marketplaces. Topics include eligibility and training, the application process, and the difference between CACs and other types of enrollment assisters.
• Navigator Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual
• Navigating Health Insurance Exchanges: Key Questions & Implications for Providers
• FAQ: Obamacare And Coverage For Immigrants
• Mississippi monthly Marketplace premiums