NEW RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR COVID SEP
This month we’ve been highlighting the start of the COVID Special Enrollment Period (SEP). The SEP is going on now and will last for three months, ending on May 15, 2021. CMS has released some resources to help with outreach during the COVID SEP. These resources include social media posts, downloadable images and flyers. All materials are available in both English and Spanish. The resources are available on CMS’s Outreach & Education page.
To learn more about how the COVID SEP differs from prior SEPs, check out our NDNRC blog post from last week. If you want to learn more about the COVID SEP, check out the news item about last month’s announcement or the news item we published on 2/15 when the COVID SEP started, where we outline what someone needs if they want to take advantage of the COVID SEP.
The COVID SEP only affects people who live in states that are on the federally facilitated marketplace (healthcare.gov). However, many State Based Marketplaces (SBMs) have also announced that they will be opening COVID SEPs or extended Open Enrollments, including New York which just extended its open enrollment period to coincide with the federal COVID SEP. For a full list of SBMs who have announced COVID SEPs and the actual dates for those SEPs, check out our blog post.
In an effort to highlight the COVID SEP, AAHD has a project with Community Catalyst and other partners in conducting outreach to educate individuals about health insurance enrollment through the ACA Marketplace and Medicaid. This outreach includes graphics like the one below which highlight the opportunity to enroll due to COVID. These graphics are available in the Community Catalyst Outreach Hub. You can also check out the social media toolkit Community Catalyst created for the COVID SEP.
Are you wondering what changes have been made to ACA enrollment eligibility as it relates to potential changes in the public charge rule? The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has recently updated its FAQ sheet on the Public Charge Rule and Health Coverage Programs.
While the new COVID SEP is exciting, Medicaid has always had year-round enrollment. Last month, we announced a new project in partnership with Community Catalyst in which we will be conducting Medicaid outreach to raise awareness about the potential enrollment in the program for individuals without health insurance. If you want to learn more about the Medicaid Outreach Partnership, check out our blog post.
A new blog post from the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) highlights a new issue brief that they authored with the Commonwealth Fund on the effects that federal ACA policy has had on the SBMs. In another blog post by the CHIR, they examine prior rules under the Trump administration related to Association Health Plans and what the Biden administration may do in response.
The CHIR also returned with their Navigator Guide FAQ of the Week. This week’s question is Who Is Eligible for Financial Assistance?
In prior newsletters, we’ve been writing about the potential COVID relief bill which Congress is considering and what it could mean for coverage under the ACA and Medicaid. A new report from CBPP examines the effect that the House version of the COVID relief bill could have on Medicaid expansion.
If you missed it earlier this month, we highlighted a blog post by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) where our work on NIH’s All of Us Research Program was featured. Since 2018, AAHD has been doing outreach to the disability community on the All of Us Research Program. The NACCHO blog post outlines the rationale found in our Call to Action for why people with disabilities should get involved with the All of Us Research Program. If you want to read more about AAHD’s efforts in this program, check out the All of Us page on our website.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.