The impact of health care reform on minority populations

The MassachusettsHealth Disparities Council

April 27, 2009

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Mission: To promote health care coverage across the state.

The Connector is accomplishing this mission by:

Developing Commonwealth Care:A government-subsidized health insurance for qualified uninsured individuals whose family income is 0% - 300% of FPL.

Developing Commonwealth Choice:A non-subsidized health insurance for small groups and individuals.

Policy responsibilities:o Defining “minimum creditable coverage”

o Determining “affordability”: In turn determines exemptions from the individual mandate.

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• Source: DHCFP. Health Care in Massachusetts: Key Indicators. Jan 2008• Survey conducted January through July of 2007.

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• Source: DHCFP. Health Care in Massachusetts: Key Indicators. Feb 2009

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March 2009 EnrollmentEnrollment (000's members)

163,612163,108162,726162,721166,800 165,003

0

50

100

150

200

Oct '08 Nov '08 Dec '08 J an '09 Feb '09 Mar '09

No premium P remium-paying

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Plan Type Enrollment

Enrollment by Plan Type for Mar. 2009Total: 165,003 Members

Type 2B (150-200% FPL),

25,010 , 15%

Type 3 (200-300% FPL),

20,206 , 12%

Type 1 (0-100% FPL), 86,542 , 53%

Type 2A (100-150% FPL), 33,245 , 20%

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Enrollment History (as of 3/1/09)

12,490

11,099

1,391

-10,000

-5,000

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M

New Additions Closings Net Enrollment

Additions

Closings

Enrollment

PTIIA Auto-Assignment

2006 2007 2008

Beginning of Redet Closings

Increase in Enrollment starting in December of 2008

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Health Disparities Advisory Committee

• 7 members with representatives from DHFP, DPH, MassHealth, BPHC, an MMCO, and a minority health advocacy organization

• began meeting quarterly in June 2007

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Health Disparities Advisory Committee

The advisory committee identified two areas of focus:

• Race, Ethnicity & Data (REL) Collection

• Outreach & Communications

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Race, Ethnicity & Language (REL) Data Collection

• Examined REL data in CommCare

• Examined how different agencies throughout the state are collecting REL data

• Contributed to the QCC / Brookings Institution’s efforts

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Outreach & Communications

• Quarterly meeting with advocates

• Participate in MassHealth Training Forums (MTF)

• Work closely with EOHHS grant recipients

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Outreach & Communications

• work with community-based organizations to create materials for target specific populations

• E-learning modules (English and Spanish):– 45 minute web-based modules for CommCare outreach

workers and for the general public

• Connector media placements– e.g. TV: Univision/Telefutura

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An example of our outreach and Communications efforts:Open Enrollment: May 25 – June 25, 2009

The CommCare program staff going statewide in order tocommunicate changes:

– February• Reviewed materials and communication approach with 7

community based organizations

– March• Presentation with Mass. League of CHCs• Connector workshop w/Network Grantees

– April • Presentations at statewide MTF sessions

– May • Western Health Access Network - Amherst • Health Care for All

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Outreach & Communications

• Enrollment Materials– Designed by Maximus Center for Health and Literacy

• Conducted focus groups to ensure accessibility• Printed English and Spanish

• Improvements to our customer call center– increased # of bilingual CSRs– decreased call wait times

• Commonwealth Care Fact Sheets– Translated to: Spanish, European & Brazilian Portuguese,

Vietnamese, Chinese (traditional), Haitian Creole, Russian, Khmer, Lao

– Download PDFs from: www.MAhealthconnector.org

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Looking ahead

• Address the newly adopted changes from the QCC

• Continue to work with other stakeholders– community organizations– MMCOs– health insurers– MassHealth

• Research