The shift to Medicaid managed care and new value-based care arrangements in the state could improve health outcomes for financially vulnerable residents or widen already steep racial and geographic disparities. To better understand the impact of these initiatives, the Trust will support data collection and analysis efforts that shed light on how patients with low incomes, especially Black individuals, immigrants, and people of color are faring as health care payment models change.

The shift to Medicaid managed care and new value-based care arrangements in the state could improve health outcomes for financially vulnerable residents or widen already steep racial and geographic disparities. To ensure that families with low incomes are not harmed as payment models change, the Trust will support efforts to educate and protect consumers and promote patient feedback and information sharing among stakeholders.

­­En Español: Ayudando a las familias inmigrantes a responder a la pandemia de COVID-19 Immigrant communities have been some of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with millions of immigrants serving as frontline essential workers and millions more out of work. Intensifying this hardship is that fact that immigrants are often ineligible for public assistance programs. Before the pandemic, non-citizens were already significantly more likely to be uninsured, and most immigrants are ineligible for many forms of public benefits during the first five years in their status. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Latinx individuals make up nine percent of our state’s population but account for 25 percent of COVID-19 cases. To help immigrant families weather challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and access a vaccine when available, the Trust will support immigrant-led organizations working closely with immigrant communities in North Carolina. To ensure that strong community-based networks exist to help immigrants and their families thrive, we encourage the submission of joint applications from groups to promote collaboration and coordination.

Our goal is to increase insurance enrollment rates in underserved areas or among groups that have been marginalized to improve access and promote the sustainability of critical health services. The Trust will support communications, outreach and enrollment efforts that target communities with large numbers of eligible but unenrolled residents or counties with low enrollment penetration rates.

As the health system shifts to new payment models, we know that financially vulnerable residents including the uninsured and underinsured will suffer disproportionately from a lack of access to care. Given this transition and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is especially important to ensure the continued viability of the health care safety net system in the state. This is a statewide funding opportunity to support communications, community education, advocacy efforts, and research and evaluation that help maintain the viability of the health care safety net system.