Connecting Consumers with Care 2019-21 Grant Guidelines Jennifer - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Connecting Consumers with Care

2019-21 Grant Guidelines Jennifer Lee, Senior Program Officer May 23, 2019

2 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Foundation Mission & Values

Expand access to health care for low-income and vulnerable populations in Massachusetts

• Invested in the community through strategic grantmaking and

knowledge-sharing

• Dedicated to impartial and informative policy analysis
• Engaged with the community through collaborations and convenings
• Driven toward system change and improvement
• Committed to diversity and inclusion
• Committed to a culture of transparency and professionalism

3 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

2018 – 2020 Focus Areas

4 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Criteria for Foundation Focus Areas

• Relates to a current and critical health care issue
• Draws on Foundation’s unique experience and expertise
• Provides the system and the community with good data
• Leads to concrete policy options that result in substantive

impact and potential system improvements

• Allows for synergies between grantmaking and policy work
• Encourages collaboration

5 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Assessing the Need: Environmental Scan

• Essential supports needed for: enrollment, redeterminations,

and navigating health insurance coverage using health insurance literacy approaches

• While MA leads the country in overall uninsurance rates,

many communities and populations still experience higher rates

• Significant fear and concern among immigrant and refugee

populations due to policy changes and political climate

• Organizations operating within changing policy context:

individual mandate repealed at federal level and ACO transitions

6 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

The Grant Program Basics

• Funding amounts are $50,000 per year for up to two years
• Programmatic funding – primarily supporting staff salary(ies)

and other related expenses to run the program

• Community-based organizations and community health

centers eligible

• Target population is low-income and vulnerable populations
• Processes outlined in this webinar are not intended for

Foundation’s existing Connecting Consumers with Care

• Strengthening the Voice for Access, Expanding Access to

Behavioral Health Urgent Care, and Going Beyond Health Care grantees are not eligible to apply

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Key Elements for 2019-21 Grant Program

• Support for immigrant and refugee populations
• Addressing remaining uninsured
• Enrolling, maintaining, and using coverage
• Outreach and enrollment
• Reducing churn
• Post-enrollment

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Support for Immigrant & Refugee Populations

• Federal policy changes, including proposed Public Charge

rule, have heightened fear within immigrant and refugee populations

• Potential to affect ability to access coverage and care
• “Chilling effect”: Residents, both citizen and noncitizen,

would be dissuaded from using public benefits for which they are eligible

• Applicants asked to propose outreach strategies or enhanced

education for immigrant populations eligible for coverage

9 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Targeting the Remaining Uninsured

• Despite significant gains in enrollment coverage in MA, some

populations still experience high uninsurance rates

• In June, Foundation will release Remaining Uninsured analysis that will

dive deeper into some of these communities

• Applicants asked to develop strategies to reach these specific

populations, including partnering with other community organizations who already serve them, frequenting different community venues, and marketing campaigns

• Question pertaining to this will only be asked in the Full Proposal

round, for applicants invited to this second phase of the process

10 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Outreach & Enrollment

• Goal: Reach people who don’t have health insurance, and

help them sign up for coverage

• Identify populations affected by special circumstances (aging
• ut of coverage, losing their jobs, seasonal employees, etc.)
• Acknowledge social factors and bridge cultural and linguistic

barriers when conducting outreach

• Assist clients with understanding eligibility criteria and

applying for coverage

11 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Reducing Churn

• Churn: when an individual erroneously falls off of coverage
• Occurs in two types of instances: 1) administrative requirements

in the enrollment process or 2) as a result of movement between public programs

• Design approaches that will minimize this effect, including but not

limited to:

• Patient education
• Taking proactive steps or creating reminder systems to notify clients of changes

that may affect their coverage

• Helping clients submit renewal applications
• Identifying opportunities to streamline enrollment, and incorporate them in

advocacy approaches or feedback loops to MassHealth and the administration

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Post-Enrollment

• Once someone has health insurance, they need to understand

how to use it and keep it. This involves knowing:

• The type of coverage someone has and what it covers
• What they need to pay for services
• How to get or access those services
• What next or continued steps they need to take
• Whom or which organizations to go to for help
• Design approaches that include but are not limited to:
• Individual education
• Group-based education
• Producing materials that explain how to use your health insurance and access care

13 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Reporting, Sharing Best Practices, Ongoing Learning

• Grantees expected to provide regular reports on the impact of

their work – structure, questions, and timeframes to be dictated by the Foundation

• Data will be gathered and shared back with grantees and other

stakeholders on trends, lessons learned, and best practices

• Ongoing grantee convenings
• Foundation shares impact and lessons with the field

14 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation

Key Dates

• Thursday, June 20, 2019:

Letters of Inquiry due via portal @ 5 PM (required of all organizations not currently funded)

• Wednesday, July 10, 2019:

All applicants notified if invited to submit Full Proposal

• Thursday, August 8, 2019:

Full Proposals due via portal @ 5 PM from invited organizations only

• Wednesday, October 9, 2019:

Grant awards announced

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Key Contact Info

• Jennifer Lee, Senior Program Officer (for content questions

related to proposal) Jennifer.Lee@bcbsma.com 617-246-3509

• Evelyn Monteiro, Administrative and Grants Coordinator (for

technical questions related to portal) Evelyn.Monteiro@bcbsma.com 617-246-4850