With support from the Trust, organizations across North Carolina are expanding efforts to help North Carolinians identify and secure health insurance plans, with the goal of making health care services more affordable and accessible.
The Trust approved $1,034,846 in grants to five organizations – Care Share Health Alliance, North Carolina Farmworkers Project, Legal Aid of North Carolina, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, and Pisgah Legal Services – to support strategies that make health enrollment work around the state sustainable and to improve access to care for financially disadvantaged residents of Forsyth County and North Carolina’s rural communities. Since 2013, the Trust has invested more than $6 million around the state to increase enrollment across North Carolina, especially for financially disadvantaged and marginalized residents.
“Quality health care for all, as Mrs. Kate B. Reynolds worked toward years ago, means quality health insurance today,” said Dr. Laura Gerald, president of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. “It is critical that we work to enroll eligible individuals and families in the available coverage and support programs that provide equitable access to quality care across the state.”
Open enrollment began November 1, 2017, and ends December 15, 2017. Any North Carolinian who wants to learn more can visit www.healthcare.gov to explore health insurance options or visit http://www.legalaidnc.org/get-help/Pages/get-affordable-health-insurance.aspx to schedule an appointment with a North Carolina navigator who can help with the enrollment process.
Specific grants this cycle include:
- Care Share Health Alliance will receive $181,940 to convene stakeholders such as insurance companies, insurance agents and brokers, consumer groups, health systems, and nonprofits to share information and coordinate enrollment activities.
- North Carolina Farmworkers Project will receive $97,746 to enroll guest workers on farms in Affordable Care Act insurance plans.
- Legal Aid of North Carolina will receive $332,970 to expand access to health care in Forsyth County by providing in-person enrollment assistance and coordinating enrollment efforts.
- Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy will receive $57,837 to provide support for individual consumers denied appropriate coverage and subsidies through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace and Medicaid.
- Pisgah Legal Services (PLS) will receive $364,353 to conduct insurance outreach and enrollment activities targeting low-income residents in Western North Carolina. In addition, PLS will work with Legal Aid of North Carolina to create a model for volunteer enrollment assistance.