CHA Issues ACA Enrollment Guide
The California Hospital Association has ramped up efforts among its membership to guarantee that the state's millions of uninsured residents are able to obtain coverage.
The CHA has published a manual, “Helping Individuals Obtain Health Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act,” that has been sent to all of its member hospitals, about 300 in all. It provides step-by-step information on how to enroll uninsured patients who show up in their emergency rooms or other sites seeking care. It includes a detailed breakdown of the California Healthcare Eligibility Enrollment and Retention System, or CalHEERS, the online portal that will determine whether individuals are eligible for enrollment in Medi-Cal or the Covered California private healthcare exchange.
“California is at the forefront nationally in implementing the Affordable Care Act ,” said Anne McLeod, CHA's senior vice president of health policy. “Enrolling the uninsured in health coverage programs will be a massive undertaking, and California’s hospitals will play a major role. The CHA guidebook provides hospitals with the information and strategies necessary to achieve this goal.”
The effort by the state's most influential hospital lobby reflects some of the anxiety over the rollout of the bulk of the ACA early next year.
Although millions of Californians are expected to enroll in Medi-Cal or purchase individual insurance coverage, many policymakers are concerned that outreach to the uninsured both in the Golden State and elsewhere may fall short, which could threaten public support for the ACA.
Federal dollars for outreach have been opposed by many Republican lawmakers, and funding has often fallen short of what the Obama Administration has requested from Congress.
In the case of the CHA guide, the trade association received funding from the American Hospital Association, the Chicago-based national lobbying group for non-profit hospitals.
The manual was prepared for the CHA by healthcare finance consulting firm Kaufman Hall.
In addition to the step-by-step enrollment process and information on CalHEERS, the CHA manual also includes strategies for successful enrollment, such as where to locate enrollment staff, and sample scripts to use when discussing the issue with patients.
