HHS, 23 Orgs Boost ACA Enrollment Outreach in Black Communities

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is redoubling its Affordable Care Act enrollment outreach efforts in order to increase awareness in the Black community about coverage options available on the federal health insurance marketplace.

“Black Americans are clearly taking advantage of the current Special Enrollment Period to access quality health care coverage,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.

“But, we still have a lot of work to do. We are building on this encouraging momentum and earnestly teaming with key national partners serving Black communities. We are leveraging their expertise and networks to promote enrollment in quality, affordable health insurance coverage during this SEP. Health care is more affordable now, and access easier than ever, for people in need of a health plan that best fits an individual's or family's health care needs.”

HHS is partnering with a variety of organizations that each have a national reach in order to spread awareness about the coverage options that individuals may have on the federal health insurance market during the special enrollment period.

Specifically, 23 organizations—including America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), American Hospital Association (AHA), Association of Black Cardiologists, Black Women's Health Imperative, and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)—will spread enrollment resources via social media, targeted messages, and media opportunities.

CMS will also be conducting its own campaign through broadcast digital advertising and other electronic messaging.

According to the press release, the Black community has an uninsurance rate of around 16 percent, which is larger than the community’s share of the US population overall (13 percent).

HHS estimated that more than 985,000 of all uninsured Black Americans (66 percent) could be eligible for zero-dollar premiums following advance payments of premium tax credits.

The fact sheet added that around 1.1 million uninsured Black Americans (76 percent) could be eligible for a health plan with a premium of under $50 per month following advance payments of premium tax credits.

These options are available due to the American Rescue Plan Act’s significant expansion of premium credits.

“The American Rescue Plan increased tax credits available to millions of consumers, reducing premiums and giving consumers access to affordable, quality health care coverage,” the HHS press release explained.

The special enrollment period has already attracted a more diverse pool of enrollees than any special enrollment period that has occurred in the same months in prior years, according to an early data report from CMS.

Of the more than half a million individuals who enrolled on the health insurance marketplace in the first month and a half of the special enrollment period in 2021, 17 percent of those who chose to identify their race reported that they were Black individuals in the CMS report.

According to the HHS fact sheet on the CMS report, this represented the “largest increase in enrollment among Black consumers and among Americans near the poverty level in two years.”

Notably, this report could only share the percentage of individuals who chose to self-identify. Historically, it can be challenging to acquire such direct data because of enrollees’ hesitancy to report their race due to a number of legitimate concerns.

HHS and CMS had already committed to spending $50 million on outreach for the Affordable Care Act marketplace’s special enrollment period prior to this announcement about targeted efforts to increase awareness in the Black community.

The special enrollment period began on February 15, 2021 and Americans will continue to be able to access health plans on the federal health insurance marketplace through August 15, 2021.

In the midst of the special enrollment period, the Supreme Court will determine the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

In their defense of the law, proponents have argued that the Act offers crucial healthcare coverage options for Black Americans and other communities of color. If the law’s protections for pre-existing conditions were to be rescinded, low-income communities would have to face significant out-of-pocket healthcare costs, with communities of color being disproportionately affected, according to a recent study conducted by Oregon Health & Science University.

As the country awaits the Supreme Court’s decision, the federal government and its national partners have committed to leveraging the Affordable Care Act marketplace to reduce coverage and care disparities.