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Affordable Care Act Website of the Week: February 17-21, 2014
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FamiliesUSA is a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization that advocates for access to affordable health insurance for all Americans and produces studies and related information on best practices in health care delivery and financing. The website contains current news and information on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). For example, recently posted information has included:
- The ability of children to obtain health insurance coverage. Most ACA coverage expansion information has focused on adults, but housing and service providers serving homeless families, or people living with HIV/AIDS or disabilities with children in the household, should also be aware of coverage expansion options for children.
- The roles and resources of Community Health Centers in reaching out to and assisting to enroll uninsured people into either Medicaid or affordable commercial health insurance.
- A Navigators and In-Person Assisters Resource Center that provides information about: state enrollment assistance programs; the different types of assisters; links to federal regulations and guidance on standards for enrollment assisters; training tools and resources for assisters; and FAQs about how to enroll in health insurance.
The website also has an Infographics section that currently features easy to use graphics on tax credits to make health insurance affordable for people with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level.
For more information, please visit HUD's OneCPD Affordable Care Act website.
Reminder:
- Every state has a Health Insurance Marketplace that functions as a portal to health coverage.
- Some states have elected to operate their own Marketplace, others to be served by a Marketplace operated by the federal government, and still others to share some responsibilities in partnership with the federal Marketplace.
- The Marketplaces are intended to facilitate access to affordable healthcare coverage for people with incomes below 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL) in every state (even in those that have elected not to expand Medicaid coverage to people with incomes below 138% of the FPL).
- In addition, in all states people who are currently eligible for the legacy Medicaid program can be identified and referred for Medicaid enrollment by the Marketplace, without regard to the states’ decisions about Medicaid coverage expansion.
- The federal government is funding specialized outreach and enrollment assistance in every state.
*Because of possible new insurance options, and the increase in access to enrollment for many clients, it is essential that housing and services providers use the information available on websites such as http://www.enrollamerica.org to familiarize themselves with the Health Marketplace options in their state, and develop a plan to assist their constituents to obtain Medicaid or affordable health insurance coverage. |
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