Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), beginning in 2014 all states will employ streamlined, technology-driven enrollment systems to help eligible people sign up for insurance affordability programs, including Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the new health insurance exchange marketplaces. Even with these streamlined systems in place, application assistance will be important for helping to translate the ACA’s Medicaid and other coverage expansions into increased coverage.

The Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured held a webinar on March 19, 2013 to examine the role of application assistance in ensuring eligible individuals successfully enroll in health coverage. The webinar featured an overview of the importance of application assistance drawing on lessons learned from Medicaid and CHIP and insight into states’ planning efforts to provide such assistance under the ACA. The Foundation also released a case study highlighting the experience of providing in-person application assistance for Medicaid through community health centers in Utah. The webinar is part of the Getting into Gear for 2014 series examining key implementation issues as states prepare for the ACA coverage expansions.

Moderator: Samantha Artiga, Associate Director, KCMU

Panelists:

• Donna Cohen Ross, Senior Policy Advisor, Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• Jennifer Sullivan, Director, Best Practices Institute, Enroll America
• Carole Stipelman, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Utah
• Jennifer Edwards, Managing Principal, Health Management Associates

  View Slides (.pdf)

 Agenda (.pdf)

 Podcast (.mp3)