Increasing Public Education and Enrollment of the Underserved Asian American Populations in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Austin Areas of Texas - The project is a collaborative effort of nine Asian American (AA) community-based non-profit organizations (CBOs), church, and one clinic, focused on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate in-person or virtual assistance and public education. These services aim to help AAs navigate and enroll in health insurance coverage through Federally-Facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) and Medicaid/CHIP applications in the Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), and Austin metropolitan statistical areas of Texas. The participating organizations include Light and Salt Association (lead agency), VN Teamwork, Inc., Houston Korean Nursing Association, Asian American Health Coalition/HOPE Clinic, Chinese Community Center, New Hope Christian Church, Chinese Seniors Association of Houston (Houston), Hummingbird Community Outreach (Houston and Dallas), and Austin Light and Salt Services. The project targets communities across 26 Texas counties and more than 34 congressional districts, including Austin, Bastrop, Brazoria, Caldwell, Chambers, Collin, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Ellis, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Hays, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Liberty, Montgomery, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis, Waller, Wise, and Williamson. Additionally, the consortium offers virtual enrollment and post-enrollment assistance services to residents in other areas of Texas. The project serves communities with substantial and expanding Asian and foreign-born populations in Texas, which face above-average rates of health illiteracy and significant cultural, linguistic, and structural barriers to accessing quality health care. As of 2022, there were 1,738,688 Asians residing in Texas, marking a 20% increase from 2019. Seventy percent of this population are first-generation immigrants and approximately 25% of them spoke English less than very well. The proposed project aims to achieve the following three objectives: 1) Enhance the capacity of AA CBOs to provide expertise in enrollment assistance, providing service referrals, and public education concerning FFE and Medicaid/CHIP, 2) Increase enrollment and re-enrollment of AAs in health insurance through FFE and Medicaid/CHIP programs; 3) Raise awareness about the FFE and Medicaid/CHIP programs among Asian Americans in Texas. Specifically, for each budget year, the consortium plans to implement at least ten different outreach strategies to educate at least 135,050 AAs about FFE, Medicaid/CHIP, and other related topics, provide 22,000 units of in-person, virtual, or phone assistance, and enroll or reenroll 3,500 low-income and underserved AAs in health insurance through the FFE and Medicaid/CHIP programs. A total amount of $928,385 is requested to cover the expenses of the project-related activities for each budget year for five years (total 5 years $4,641,925). To comply with the Navigators’ duties specified in 45 C.F.R. §155.210(e) and § 155.215, 28 certified Navigators (15 full-time, 11 part-time, and 2 volunteers) will be available to provide enrollment assistance during the 2025 Open Enrollment Period and Special Enrollment Period as well as post-enrollment assistance services. Project activities and services will be offered in at least five Asian languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese. In addition to public education, six “Enrollment Assistance Centers” staffed by 28 bilingual Navigators will be established at LSA and each partner organization’s office to provide in-person or virtual enrollment and post-enrollment assistance services.
