CHI Memorial has received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help enroll uninsured people in Tennessee’s health insurance exchanges and Medicaid for 2016. The grant will support one-to-one community outreach efforts intended to help people understand their options and enroll in coverage.
CHI Memorial representatives will focus efforts on expanding and enhancing access by addressing cultural and language barriers, logistical challenges and lack of information that have kept people from enrolling in health insurance exchange programs created by the Affordable Care Act.
“Our community health centers had more than 17,000 patient visits during the most recent fiscal year.
More than 60 percent of those patients were indigent and didn’t have insurance or TennCare coverage”, says Howard Roddy, vice president, healthy communities and advocacy at CHI Memorial. “By targeting our clinics, hospital campuses and our physician offices, we are confident we can reach vulnerable populations that touch our health system.”
CHI Memorial is a part of Englewood, Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives, the nation’s second-largest nonprofit health system, which operates in 19 states and comprises 102 hospitals, including four academic health centers and major teaching hospitals; 30 critical-access facilities; community health-services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home-health agencies; living communities; and other facilities and services that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care.
Chattanooga is one of five regions of CHI to benefit from the six-month Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, which totals $462,852. Outreach activities will bring information and services directly to people in their communities. "Our social workers, health coaches and clinic staff will assist patients from our two community health centers as well as both hospital campuses. Staff has been trained on basic Exchange enrollment information and how to refer patients to a social worker for enrollment assistance," officials said.
The grant also supports Certified Application Counselor training, increasing the number of qualified navigators who can help people enroll in coverage. In some locations, health coaches and social workers in physician offices will be trained to identify and track people who may need enrollment support.