142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Effectiveness of MarketPlace Guides (MPGs) in promoting health access through the Affordable Care Act

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Lauren Pendergast, RD , Department of Family and Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Omar Khan, MD, MHS, FAAFP , Associate Vice Chair, Department of Family & Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Kathy A. Cannatelli, MS , Department of Family & Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Brian Rahmer, MS, CHES , Department of Family & Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Amy Ball, MS, MBA , Department of Family and Community Medicine, Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, DE
Background:
Approximately 15% of the US population is uninsured; in the state of Delaware, of 900,000, approximately 10% (90,000 individuals) are uninsured.  The Affordable Care Act aims to remedy this by providing increased access to Medicaid, as well as a new range of Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) which are state-specific.

We are working with the State of Delaware to recruit, certify, train and deploy MarketPlace Guides (MPGs), facilitators who provide education about enrollment in the above insurance options.

Methods:
Through a State grant to the Dept. of Family & Community Medicine, we recruited and hired 12 MarketPlace Guides, including the Program Coordinator.    All 12 went through State and Federal training program and background checks, a necessary step as they would have access to protected health information (PHI).

Results:
We successfully launched the MPG program, in support of the ACA, in October 2013.  We will present up to date impact data regarding client interactions and enrollments in health insurance plans.  Preliminary data suggest we have reached in excess of 3000 clients already with enrollments increasing to approximately 90 by the middle of January 2014.

Conclusion:
As an academic department, our expertise in community health and evaluation played a major role in the administration of the program.  We successfully partnered with the State of Delaware Dept. of Health & Social Services and the Dept. of Insurance to implement this essential part of the Affordable Care Act- access to health care through expanded insurance options.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Advocacy for health and health education
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the importance of MPGs in implementing the Affordable Care Act's insurance options at the state & community level Describe the process of recruitment, hiring, training, and follow-up of MPGs as an essential component of access to health care

Keyword(s): Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Marketplace Guide for Christiana Care Health System. I have experience in educating and enrolling individuals in health insurance.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4228.0: Health administration round table: Impacts of the Affordable Care Act