Jeanette Contreras of the Office of Communications at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
By AIDS.gov
During our recent AIDS.gov webinar, Toward an AIDS-free Generation: Healthcare Outreach and Enrollment for People Living with HIV, panelists discussed ways that HIV/AIDS organizations can help reach out to and enroll individuals, particularly from communities of color, in coverage available to them through the Health Insurance Marketplace. One way for organizations to get involved, explained panelist Jeanette Contreras of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Communications, is by becoming a Champion for Coverage.
Champions for Coverage are public or private organizations that work to get the word out and educate their communities about the Marketplace.
“They share information with their members, customers, and stakeholders about the Marketplace and how to get covered and stay covered by sending e-mails, hosting stake-holder calls, and sharing information during meetings or trainings,” Ms. Contreras explained. Many Champions have also hosted or provided space and resources for local Certified Application Counselor organizations, and navigators to conduct in-person enrollment events.
There are at least 17 national, states, and local HIV/AIDS organizations or agencies officially recognized as Champions for Coverage. These include the Latino Commission on AIDS, the AIDS Project of the Ozarks in Missouri, and many more Champions doing things like this:
- The City of Philadelphia’s Office of HIV Planning worked with local health and HIV/AIDS partners to develop a consumer tool to help PLWH from several Pennsylvania counties pick a Marketplace plan that covers their HIV medication.
- The National Minority AIDS Council hosts their own enrollment-focused webpage and engages with members and local partners through social media to drive people to #GetCovered!
If your organization or agency is interested in joining the growing list of Champions for Coverage, check out some of these Ways Your Organization Can Be a Champion for Cover-age, and tell us what you’re doing. You can also send an email to champion@cms.hhs.gov to be added to the official list.