Grant Partners

Lowell Community Health Center, which serves a community with a high rate of uninsurance, will strengthen services to engage and enroll clients in health insurance and educate staff and community-based agencies about the health care system to increase understanding and trust, especially among refugee and immigrant populations. It will increase efficiencies to improve patient access to health insurance benefits services and it will increase its capacity to formalize tracking systems for its patients to address churn. Lowell Community Health Center will increase timely, culturally and linguistically appropriate guidance to assist clients in making informed decisions and maintaining health insurance.

The Joint Committee for Children’s Health Care in Everett assists clients, many from immigrant, multilingual, and multicultural backgrounds, to understand health insurance coverage options and how to access services. It will coordinate six, large-scale enrollment events across different settings and provide focused outreach to specific populations, including children aging out of parents’ household coverage. It will convene two stakeholder meetings of practitioners and other participants to discuss strategies to eliminate churn and minimize misinformation. It will also attend community events and distribute flyers monthly throughout the service area at venues such as service agencies, ethnic small businesses, laundromats, libraries, parks and places of worship.

The Dimock Center, which serves a community with a high rate of uninsurance, will strengthen its capacity to provide health insurance outreach and enrollment services, ensuring that its clients gain knowledge about coverage options as well as how to access and navigate the health care system. The Dimock Center will focus on clients with substance use disorder, specifically those seeking to and who are currently accessing services at its inpatient detox and residential recovery homes. These clients are often disconnected from the health care system, including health insurance coverage, therefore the Dimock Center will enhance its services to ensure that clients interested or participating in these programs are connected with financial counselors to enroll in, maintain coverage. Through 2021, specific grant plans may be adjusted to meet the current health and safety guidelines to protect the wellbeing of clients, patients, and staff.

Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, which serves a community with one of the state’s highest number of uninsured residents, will partner with local organizations to expand its reach to specific populations, including immigrants, recently or chronically unemployed, residents recovering from substance use disorder, probationers and parolees. It will position its certified application counselor in the community five days a week and work with consumers post-enrollment to ensure that they maintain coverage and have access to care.

Family Health Center of Worcester will focus insurance outreach and enrollment efforts towards refugee, immigrant, and asylee populations through clinics and community events with an emphasis on dispelling misinformation, myths, and fears related to public charge. It will proactively outreach to patients who are newly uninsured as a result of a change in life circumstances and will hold new patient education sessions monthly in languages other than English. Family Health Center of Worcester will also conduct ongoing reviews of information collected from Health Insurance Literacy surveys and provide group learning opportunities for its navigators to identify and address themes and content for staff training. Through 2021, specific grant plans may be adjusted to meet the current health and safety guidelines to protect the wellbeing of clients, patients, and staff.

Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center will enhance partnerships with other community organizations in the region for outreach and enrollment services and it will increase visibility in the community where the most vulnerable clients are likely to congregate, including community centers, cultural events, and libraries. To better assist clients, the health center will implement a schedule to increase access to walk-in assistance. It will proactively provide clients with the tools they need to prevent lapses in coverage and will work with insurers to obtain lists of members who are up for renewal, supporting those patients in the re-determination process.

East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC) serves one of the largest Latinx populations in the state and several of the communities it serves have among the highest rates of uninsurance. EBNHC will conduct outreach in partnership with local community organizations, proactively assist self-pay patients in applying for coverage, and promote enrollment services through social media and in clinical areas of the health center. It will also cross-train call center staff to provide appropriate health insurance information (pre-and-post enrollment) and support to patients. Through 2021, specific grant plans may be adjusted to meet the current health and safety guidelines to protect the wellbeing of clients, patients, and staff.

Boston Public Health Commission will strengthen and grow its impact and presence in communities with the highest rates of uninsured by scaling up successful outreach and enrollment strategies, including flyering and one-on-one counseling, as well as its multilingual enrollment assistance in the office and the community. It will also expand hours, collaborate with local businesses, leverage radio and social media to promote its services, and share information about open enrollment and plan selection periods.

Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee (CEOC), which serves several communities with high rates of uninsured residents, will work to reduce barriers to obtaining insurance enrollment assistance by co-locating enrollment services where individuals live, or where they receive other services. CEOC will focus on locations where individuals who are more likely to be uninsured may frequent, such as food pantries, homeless shelters, single-room occupancy residences, English as a Second Language programs, cultural organizations, and job and career service programs. It will also bundle insurance enrollment assistance with its other programs, including the food pantry, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment, free tax preparation, as well as housing stabilization services. Through 2021, specific grant plans may be adjusted to meet the current health and safety guidelines to protect the wellbeing of clients and staff.

Ecu-Health Care will support clients in accessing and maintaining health insurance coverage through one-on-one education and outreach in partnership with local community organizations.  It will also participate in a variety of community events to build awareness of its services and to provide coverage information to consumers. It will disseminate information about coverage through social media, flyers, and brochures throughout the community, and will proactively outreach to uninsured Berkshire Medical Center patients to provide insurance enrollment support.

Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program will bridge gaps in care for homeless immigrant and non-English speaking patients by enhancing and expanding outreach and health insurance enrollment services at key locations, including shelter sites, where it sees a large volume of patients with limited English language proficiency. It will also expand access to enrollment services at its Oasis Clinic, a dedicated clinic that incorporates a variety of services to meet the needs of immigrants and patients with limited English proficiency. At the clinic, it will inform patients about their health coverage, the requirements for retaining benefits, and provide advice for overcoming logistical barriers that homelessness brings in maintaining coverage. It will also include enrollment services on its outreach van in East Boston, which serves primarily immigrant and uninsured patients. Through 2021, specific grant plans may be adjusted to meet the current health and safety guidelines to protect the wellbeing of clients, patients, and staff.

Boston Public Health Commission will maintain referral systems with community partners; host enrollment sessions throughout the city with a focus on the East Boston and Dorchester communities; leverage social media and local cable access; scale up flyering in census tracts with the highest rates of uninsured, with an emphasis on local businesses and community organization; and develop a multilingual plain language form that outlines when and how a consumer needs to update the state with pertinent information to maintain coverage.                                                                                          

Edward M. Kennedy will expand assistance on weekend hours; assist in educating about 13,500 MassHealth patients who will be impacted by changes related to the 1115 waiver and transition to the Accountable Care Organization model; verify the insurance status of current patients days in advance of upcoming appointments; work with insurers to identify members who are up for renewal and provide assistance; formalize an outreach and enrollment network to identify at-risk individuals and refer them to the Outreach/Enrollment team; and partner with community centers and places of worship. 

Ecu-Health Care will conduct outreach in partnership with local community organizations and institutions; provide direct-to-consumer outreach via phone or mailings to Berkshire Medical Center uninsured patients as identified through an automated referral system; partner with other area health and human service organizations to establish an online referral system; review with clients the contents of a member packet including information on what changes to an account need to be reported, staying healthy with your new insurance, eligibility and benefits, how to make a payment, and advanced premium tax credits; and expand digital media, billboards, public broadcast, and radio advertising.

The Joint Committee for Children’s Health Care in Everett will promote messages about health insurance enrollment via its Facebook page, newsletters, and the City of Everett’s website; place multilingual media ads and coordinate appearances and PSAs for radio stations and cable TV programs; coordinate large-scale enrollment events in partnership with community organizations; offer weekly night drop-in sessions for clients to bring questions or copies of letters to receive group level assistance with enrollment questions; create a renewal flyer to explain the process to applicants; work with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance agency to assist clients who must reconcile their tax credits; and maintain and develop referral systems with provider organizations.