As an enrollment entity, Community Health Councils (CHC) has been working with the community and our partners ensure that residents are enrolled in and utilizing their health coverage for over 20 years. Our enrollers work diligently to conduct: 1) outreach, identifying individuals and disseminating relevant information for healthcare coverage options, the application process, and the importance of having health insurance; 2) enrollment, assisting individuals in applications for health coverage by assessing eligibility, reviewing and gathering required documentation; 3) utilization assistance, conducting timely follow-up activities to ensure that individuals are utilizing their health coverage; and, 4) retention services, ensuring that all individuals’ coverage is properly renewed annually. All of these components require constant troubleshooting efforts, further increasing the workload of outreach and enrollment workers. Outreach and enrollment workers are invaluable to our health care system. As gatekeepers of the communities they work in, they are able to establish strong connections with their clients, further increasing health outcomes. CHC has previously released a brief on understanding the importance of, and preserving the network of community-based outreach, enrollment, utilization and retention services (OEUR).
Funding for OEUR services is critical; therefore on behalf of our Covering Kids and Families (CKF) and LA Access to Health Coverage Coalitions, CHC has written a funding request letter to Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula and Senator Richard Pan. The letter requests a minimum of $26,500,000 in state general funds to be matched by federal funds, for a total of $53 million in order to continue the important work of outreach, enrollment and troubleshooting for health coverage programs for low-income Californians. We ask that the funding be allocated similarly to that as of funding under AB 82. In the current political landscape, as fears are heightened due to immigration concerns, and as attacks on the Affordable Care Act increase, it is crucial to permanently sustain funding to support outreach and enrollment services. The letter was supported by over 40 partner organizations and can be found here. CHC has advocated to sustain funding within LA County and will continue to support this funding request at the state level through various means of advocacy. If you are interested in being involved in these efforts, please contact Bhavika Patel at bpatel@risingcommunities.org