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Extending The Reach
With Black community awareness of Obamacare benefits falling short of expectations, California advocates and consumers urge renewed effort and focus. By McKenzie Jackson, California Black Media
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ast May, Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, announced the awarding of $37 million in grants that would flow to a total of nearly 300 organizations — all working to conduct outreach and develop tailored education plans about affordable health care coverage available through the state exchange. At the time, the organization’s executive director, Peter V. Lee, said the initiative would “build on our partnerships with organizations that have trusted relationships in diverse communities throughout the state.” Targeting a total of 9 million Californians, 32 grants were said to be focused on AfricanAmerican outreach, compared to 37 targeting
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Latinos. Twenty-seven grants were focused on Caucasian outreach and education, with 20 aimed at the Asian-Pacific Islander community. According to a statement issued by Covered California, the intent was as clear as it was noble: to foster successful outreach “programs in communities where likely enrollees live, work, pray, shop, and play, with a goal … to increase awareness about the new benefits, to educate targeted audiences about the subsidy programs available to them and to motivate consumers and small businesses to be part of obtaining health insurance.” These efforts are widely perceived to have been in good faith. But with so few African-Americans enrolled in Obamacare benefits through the state exchange questions linger about the effectiveness of the outreach. As of last month, only about 11,000 blacks were on the Covered California rolls — representing about 3.1 percent of enrollees, despite numbering seven percent of the state’s total population. “We definitely need to increase the outreach to African-Americans,” said Karen D. Lincoln, a professor of social work at the University of Southern California and founder of the organization Advocates for African-American Elders. “I think the fact that the primary method of enrollment is via the Internet, there is a large segment of our population who cannot enroll. Now, among the
VOICE | MARCH 6, 2014 | theievoice.com
general population of African-Americans, there is certainly more use of social media — but access can be a problem, particularly when you are in a multi-generational household and there are many people, who are maybe using one computer. Access can be a bit of a challenge.” “Yet,” says Lincoln, “the issue is not entirely generational. The other part that I think is important for the general population of African-Americans, we do need more outreach,” she said. “As advocates, we have been passing out fact sheets about how to enroll, the importance of enrolling, the deadlines, the penalties for not enrolling … but I don’t think the message is clear. I don’t think the message is widespread enough among us, and I think we do need to do a little bit more educating on the importance of it.” A growing number of health care advocates believe additional education and outreach should be focused on raising black community awareness about the opportunities available through MediCal. Too often, it is misunderstood to be a program only available for mothers and their children, but as of January 1, 2014, it has expanded to cover anyone whose resources are so limited that they cannot afford any other health care plan. Advocates are now stepping in to help boost the effectiveness of the outreach. For example, The California Endowment, in partnership with DHCS, has launched a $23 million statewide effort to boost Medi-Cal enrollment in 36 counties across the state. In a joint statement, the two organizations said the grants would “support overall efforts to increase awareness of Medi-Cal for those who are eligible, but not yet enrolled, while helping retain current members. It will emphasize reaching certain specific populations ... with educational information that is meaningful and relevant to their needs.” “We know that one-on-one assistance is vital to helping those who are hardest to reach and most in need,” said Robert K. Ross, M.D., CEO and President of The Endowment. “We are excited to partner with DHCS to fund outreach and enrollment assistance at the local level. This is continued on next page