By KHI NEWS SERVICE
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City on Friday announced it will award more than $345,000 for outreach, education and enrollment efforts for the next health insurance marketplace open enrollment period, which begins Nov. 15.
Five organizations will use the funding to provide enrollment counselors, increase collaboration and recruit additional enrollment partners in the Kansas City area. The funding also will support health insurance literacy efforts.
Grantees, funding amounts and their programs are:
Enroll Wyandotte, $99,900
Focuses on performing community marketplace outreach, engaging faith communities, training nonprofit staff/volunteers, and building health insurance literacy.
Cover Missouri, $30,000
Regularly convenes Missouri-based application counselors and navigators for shared learning, creates materials for distribution, and builds awareness through social and earned media.
Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved, $48,620
Partners with federally qualified health centers and other safety net clinics in Kansas to provide training and technology for in-person enrollment assistance.
Mid-America Regional Council, $60,500
Convenes marketplace stakeholders throughout the KC-area for regular updates and planning.
United Way of Greater Kansas City, $106,025
Operates the 2-1-1 comprehensive information and referral line and connects consumers with available services. United Way communications will be used to promote awareness of the marketplace
During the first enrollment period that ended in March 2014, 152,335 Missourians and 57,013 Kansans signed up for health insurance through the marketplace.
“Uninsurance is associated with many negative health outcomes, including forgoing or delaying necessary medical care,” said Dr. Bridget McCandless, president and chief executive of the foundation. “Encouraging enrollment in available health insurance options holds the promise of leveraging federal subsidies to achieve affordable coverage for HCF’s target population.”
United Way 2-1-1 and coverkc.org will serve as the central information hub for Kansas Citians looking for information and resources regarding the health insurance marketplace.
“We learned this past year that the enrollment infrastructure in Kansas City was not adequate to handle the high volume of in-person enrollment requests that occurred during the final weeks of the first open enrollment period,” said Jessica Hembree, the foundation’s program and policy officer. “Focus groups with area enrollment counselors also demonstrated that collaboration and learning between outreach and enrollment stakeholders will be crucial to increased efficacy in the coming enrollment period.”