First published on July 13, 2015 in observance of the COPH’s 30^th anniversary celebration.

Jodi Ray is a bundle of energy when she talks about the project that has become her life’s work, Florida Covering Kids and Families, which is a part of the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies.

The founding program director was Mary Figg, a state representative for Hillsborough County.  After a year or two of preliminary maneuvers, the initiative began formally in 1999.  Figg had enlisted Ray, who has a master’s degree in mass communications, the year before to be program coordinator and handle all things media, including assisting her with crafting the successful request for that all-important initial grant.

“My job was to manage a multimedia campaign.  I’ve done a lot of mass communications on this job,” she said.  “In fact, I’d say I do more of that than anything else.”

The project was funded its first seven years by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to do outreach enrollment of children eligible for the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid.  During that time, a staff of two more than doubled to five by 2006, then, when that funding ended, was cut all too literally in half, reduced to a project director, a coordinator and a half-time assistant: essentially, a staff of 2-1/2.  Fortunately, they had a dedicated network behind them.

Jodi Ray

“We have a state coalition,” Ray said, “a large collaboration of partners from around the state and local coalitions in almost every community in the state.  We came together and said, ‘Our mission is to get uninsured into coverage.’”

The coalition was initially mandated by the RWJF grant, Ray said.  It remains active today and includes some of its original members.  No question, it answered a critical need in 2006, when half the staff was asked to keep up with an exponential work-load increase created three years earlier.

Crying on the phone

“In 2003,” she explained, “the state ended all outreach efforts for CHIP.  So they literally boxed everything up and sent it to me.  They gave me their contact lists and all of their partnerships and said, ‘Could you please take this on?’  Now granted, there were no financial resources with that at the time.”

“The state also closed enrollment for CHIP in Florida for 18 months.  As a result of that, we lost over 300,000 kids in the Florida KidCare program.  In one month alone, we lost 40,000 kids.

“There was no statewide outreach initiative except us,” she said, “me and my other 1-1/2 people.  The number of calls I got was unbelievable.  People were calling and crying.  It was terrible.”

That situation started Ray on an 18-month crusade, talking to newspaper editorial boards, legislators, community leaders, almost anyone who would listen.

Committed to moving forward, she and the coalition began implementing a plan that was as innovative as it was aggressive:  Sign up as many kids as possible to a waiting list.  When the list reached 120,000, the New York Times took notice and gave the state a boatload of blistering press.  Not long after, the governor issued an executive order to enroll all the kids on the list, and open enrollment returned permanently four months later.

In 2007, a new governor, Charlie Crist, declared the uninsured rate among children appalling.  He brought the state agencies together, Ray said, and told them to figure out how to make it better, and fast.

“One of the things they did was decide to give us some resources,” Ray said.

A state contract and marketing materials soon followed, along with help from state agency staffs on routine but time-consuming matters like mailing.  Growth was back, and with it, ramped-up after-school activities and more engagement with local businesses.

The results since have ranged from impressive to remarkable.  Since the first open enrollment period began on Oct. 1, 2013, the project has gained national media coverage for enrolling about 2.5 million previously uninsured Floridians, twice the expectation.

“We expanded to focus on all the newly eligible uninsured to help them get into whatever coverage options are available,” Ray said, “whether under the Affordable Care Act in the marketplace or Medicaid or CHIP.  One way or another, we were going to help people who didn’t have coverage get health insurance so they could get access to health care services.

“Health care services are important, and having preventive care, all those things.  We talk about all those things being necessary, but you’re not getting in the door unless you have health insurance.  So that’s what we focus on: the first step, getting people in the door.”

That may be the focus, but there’s plenty more to do.

“We also do one-on-one application,” she said.  “We have consumers that actually sit down with us and do enrollment.  We do everything that involves connecting people to health coverage.

“We even do some health literacy.  How do you use health insurance?  How do you make an appointment to see a doctor?  For many of the uninsured, these are not obvious.”

“We work with all the agencies on both the state and federal levels that are involved in implementing health coverage, and we get out there and shake the bushes.”

Media and more

As much effort as is spent on finding the uninsured, many do find FCKF first, Ray said.

“We get cold calls for everything,” she said.  “I used to wonder sometimes how people find us, but I don’t wonder that anymore.  All you have to do is help somebody.  Then that person gives your number to somebody else.  We get a lot of calls by word of mouth.  We helped someone at some point, and even years later, we get a call from that person’s family member or friend who needs help.”

“The things that consumers come in here and tell you are unbelievable, sometimes heartbreaking.  That’s the other thing that’s really tough,” she said.  “I’ve gotten calls that have made me literally get up and walk around the building a few times because the stories are terrible: the family living in a car; the kid who’s got some kind of horrible heart condition; the mother who had CHIP coverage, but something went wrong with her renewal, it got dropped, it’s Christmastime and she has no money because the asthma medication she had to pick up for her son cost $400.”

While grants provide the funding, the University of South Florida and College of Public Health make it work, Ray said.

“Our work has been very well supported by both the College of Public Health and the University.  I say this out loud every day:  I don’t think anybody doing this work could be in a better place.  I don’t think there’s any way Dr. Petersen could support our work any more than she does.  We get so much support from one end of this university to the other, and we worked with everybody through open enrollment.”

Student Health Services, the libraries, the Morsani College of Medicine and the Marshall Center were regular haunts, as were the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses.

From the beginning, Ray, who became director upon Figg’s retirement in 2003, has been the media go-to person from the beginning, and that responsibility has grown as exponentially as the project itself.

“We do four press conferences a year.  I spend a ridiculous amount of time talking to reporters.  Just in the first open enrollment period alone, I probably did 80 or 90 interviews with reporters from one end of the country to the other.”

The result was major articles in The New Yorker, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, to name a few, as well as pieces widely disseminated by the Associated Press and Reuters, as well as personal visits from two national health secretaries.

Ray on Capitol Hill in a nationally televised discussion.

“During the first open enrollment period, we had the second-largest grant in the country,” Ray said.  “That, in itself, drew attention, and [U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius] came here, herself, and awarded the grant.  She came to the college, and that’s how I found out we’d gotten the grant.”

It’s little wonder, then, that what began with two people 17 years ago keeps a dozen in the USF office busy with training, policy work, education, outreach, grant-writing, communications, etc.  It’s an office full of multi-taskers, Ray said.

“We all do all of it,” she said.

Given the complexities of health insurance laws and regulations, not to mention a new set of rules for navigators, just keeping up is a task unto itself.

“We do have to make it a point to stay informed.  We’re constantly on webinars and trainings, reading policies and reading new rules.  We have our hands in a lot of different elements of public health, just because we have to.”

The toughest part of the job, she said, is not being able to help everyone.

“We still have a gap of folks who are not going to qualify for coverage they can afford because the state has not expanded Medicaid coverage,” she said.  “I’d like to see us be able to enroll everyone who has no access to health coverage.  I’d like to see that in less than five years, quite frankly.  I would hate for that to be a five-year goal.”

Ray makes it obvious that what she and her colleagues do at Florida Covering Kids and Families is what keeps her pumped with energy.

“It’s all very exciting,” she said.  “We’re right there at the front end of this, and that, in and of itself, is exhilarating.  I feel good about what we’ve been able to accomplish, so it’s all been worth the time and effort – and the stress and the exhaustion – because it’s paid off.  We’re actually having an impact, and people see it.”

Every flight needs a navigator

The federal navigator initiative aimed at getting people into the new health insurance marketplace has been a major focus of their work the past two years, as well as a major hallmark of their success.

“The navigators are tied specifically to the federal marketplace.” Ray explained, “Some states are not participating in the federal marketplace, but Florida happens to be one of those states that is.”

The federal program provides outreach enrollment funds.  The first funding opportunities began in 2013, Ray said, and her office applied for USF to get an award that would cover the state.  She and her team did all the grant writing.

“We had already been doing this work on the ground across the state to enroll kids in CHIP and Medicaid,” Ray said, “and many of the partners around the state had come to a consensus that it made perfect sense for us to be the applicant for this grant and take the lead.  So, what we did was look at the model that was already working and find a way to expand on that.”

The result was a $4.2-million award in 2013 to cover 64 of the state’s 67 counties, the exceptions being Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe, which submitted their own applications separately.

“The second year,” Ray said, “we went back to those partners again and asked them if they would like to join us for the 2014 application.  They said yes the second time around, so the second time around, we covered all 67 counties in Florida.”

The second award was worth $5.3-million.  Ray’s group had secured million-dollar grants for their Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollments, but those, which  had been their largest to date, are easily dwarfed by the Navigator grants.

Most of the funds are vested in the people who get the job done, Ray said.

“A lot of people.  I’m a big believer that priority number one should be the human resource.  The folks on the ground.  The folks who are out there doing the education, the communication, the one-on-one application assistants, the people who know the processes.  We know from our history of doing this and tons of research that these are the folks who keep people from getting lost along the way through the process.”

In one regard, Ray said, the Navigator’s work has only begun with the enrollment stage.

“They help people navigate the enrollment process and get to the point where they can be enrolled and covered, and they’re also key to helping people appropriately use health insurance,” she said.  “We want folks not just to get in, but we want them to keep their coverage and to use their coverage properly.

“When you’re connecting people to health care coverage for the first time, these are not innately understood concepts.  Insurance is actually a pretty complicated idea, and if you’ve never used it, you really can get overwhelmed.  If you have it and you’re not using it, then the tendency to understand its value can be diminished.  The Navigators and the Florida KidCare application assisters on the ground are essential for that piece of it.  It’s not just about filling out the forms.”

The numbers tell just how busy those people on the ground have been.

“The first year, the projected enrollment for the federal health insurance marketplaces in Florida was around 450,000, give or take,” Ray said.  “We ended up enrolling – with all partners across the state, not just the USF partners – almost a million.  We doubled the projections, basically.

“The second year, the last number I saw was about 1.6 million, but that didn’t include the last month, the limited special enrollment period for people who got hit with the tax penalties.”

As impressive as those figures are, their national rank may be more so, especially given California’s stand as by far the most populous state of the union.

“The first year, every month, we came in second in the country to California,” Ray said.  “This year, our enrollment here in Florida was higher than enrollment in any other state in the country.  It’s a pretty successful initiative in Florida.”

That seems understated, especially considering that it was the work of about 90 Navigators the first enrollment period and around 150 the second round.  Ray was quick to note, however, that Navigators weren’t the only people involved.

“There are more resources that go into managing this than just the enrollment folks,” she said.  “We have IT people involved, we have human resource people involved, we have grant administrators involved.  It’s an undertaking, for sure.  It’s all a team effort.”

A niche in the state’s public health

The stakes, along with the numbers, will be higher for the third round, since the funding will be for three years.  Ray is undaunted by the change and, in fact, favors it.  For one thing, it will provide greater continuity in enrollment services, she said.

“We won’t have the start-up delays that come with a grant ending,” she explained, “and then waiting for another grant to come in.”

Given the early success but also knowing the nature of the funding world, Ray is cautiously optimistic about future Navigator grants.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” she said.  “I feel like we’ve done a good job.  I think our outcomes have been really high.  Our partners at the federal level seem very pleased with the work that we’re doing.

“Florida certainly has been a shining star all the way through this.  Not because I was optimistic, but because I believed we were doing the right thing and that we knew what we were doing, I’m not surprised.  Because we didn’t go into this making up a plan of action.  We went into it with a sense of how it can be done, what the best practices were.  We had learned our lessons along the way.  We didn’t have to reinvent the wheel to do this.  All our collaborative partners made a big difference, too.

“I feel pretty good going into years three through five.  It’s going to be harder going into these years, because we’ve enrolled so many of the low-hanging fruit, so we really have to hone in on who we’re missing and whatever we need to do to make sure we’re not leaving people behind.

“This is our niche for the state of Florida in public health.  Whether it’s obesity or diabetes or getting cancer screenings, it’s very difficult for people to do anything about those things we talk about in public health if they don’t have health insurance.  So, I think we’re doing something valuable in contributing that first step to addressing some of these important public health issues that are so important.”

Story by David Brothers, College of Public Health.  Graphics courtesy of Florida Covering Kids and Families, CSPAN and Jodi Ray.

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The Federal Open Enrollment Period (OEP) to sign up for or change health insurance plans runs from Nov. 1, 2023, through Jan. 15, 2024. Navigators from Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF), housed within the USF College of Public Health, along with their community partners are poised to help consumers find health insurance plans that are right for them.

Florida Covering Kids & Families works collaboratively with Florida agencies and stakeholders to advocate and conduct outreach to ensure all Floridians have access to affordable healthcare coverage. It has seven contracted partners that serve all 67 counties in Florida and is funded by a multimillion-dollar, multi-year grant from the U.S. Health and Human Service Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

While the FL-CKF has no large-scale, in-person sign-up events scheduled in the community this year, Nikia Gates, program manager for the FL-CKF Navigator Project, said Navigators—specially trained individuals who help a consumer “navigate” the health insurance marketplace—are just a phone call away to answer questions and schedule in-person or virtual appointments.

“Florida Covering Kids & Families will provide education and support, offer referrals when applicable, and schedule appointments with a Navigator partner in the consumer’s area if needed,” Gates said. “We will also be providing technical support to the Affordable Care Act consortium of partners. Additionally, we will be contacting consumers via mail through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Marketplace Assistance Community (MAC) database.”

Navigators will also be out and about in the community.

Family Healthcare Foundation, a Tampa-based nonprofit that partners with FL-CKF and provides outreach and application assistance in publicly funded health care programs such as Florida KidCare, the Health Insurance Marketplace and local county health care programs, will have Navigators meeting with consumers on the phone and virtually. Tampa Bay Navigators will be at locations such as Tampa General, BayCare Health Systems hospitals, the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County Family Resource Centers and Feeding Tampa Bay’s Empowerment Centers.  

“Offering multiple options to meet with a Navigator at a variety of community and clinical settings truly ‘meets’ people where they are to help them navigate a complicated system of understanding what their health insurance options are,” Katie Roders Turner, executive director of Family Healthcare Foundation, said. “We assist anyone and encourage everyone to reach out to speak with us if they are looking for health insurance information. Navigators are always free and always confidential.”

Anyone exploring new health insurance options or needing to change an existing plan is urged to utilize the OEP.

“The OEP is open to everyone. Appointments are available virtually, over the phone, and in person,” Gates said. “Anyone needing assistance getting health coverage through the Marketplace can call Covering Florida at (877) 813-9115 or visit coveringflorida.org to book an appointment with a Navigator in their area. Consumers can also visit healthcare.gov to explore resources that will help make enrollment faster and easier. Resources are available to help consumers determine if they qualify for savings, making health care even more affordable.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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The USF College of Public Health (COPH) recently brought together roughly 40 health care marketplace Navigators—specially trained people who help those searching for health insurance “navigate” the enrollment process—and representatives of health education partners from around the state to meet, network and, most importantly, collaborate.

The meeting took place in Lutz, Fla., on Sept. 12-13.

A meeting of the minds

Dr. Ellen Daley, a COPH professor and principal investigator of the Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) grant, which works extensively with Navigators around the state, said bringing together Navigators and partners at this point, when FL-CKF leadership has recently changed, was crucial.

Florida Covering Kids & Families works collaboratively with Florida agencies and stakeholders to advocate and conduct outreach to ensure all Floridians have access to affordable health care coverage.

“It was a good time to get together with partners and see what was working and what wasn’t, what needed addressing, what needed revising,” Daley said in her opening remarks to the group.

Daley then gave the group an overview of some recent FL-CKF highlights, noting that over the last 10 years, some 19,000 consumers have been helped, per year, with insurance enrollment and that Florida, California and Texas have the highest rates of enrollment in the country.

After introductions and an ice-breaker toss-the-beach-ball exercise, state partners were invited to the podium to list their “Points of Pride.”

Outreach outlined

Many outlined how they provide outreach to the large and often diverse areas they serve, sparking ideas for other groups.

For example, Big Bend Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Inc., a nonprofit based in Tallahassee that aims to improve community health, focusing on underserved, rural and minority populations in its area, described how they talk to people about insurance while they are getting their blood sugar checked or blood pressure taken. They also place ads in grocery carts and on bus stops and leave information at nail salons and public libraries, which many people without a computer or WiFi will stop into to check the internet or email.

Other groups talked of how they reach clients by partnering with health care systems and local health departments, going to food banks, construction sites and homeless shelters, talking about insurance enrollment during tobacco cessation programs and utilizing texting programs.

They also hire Navigators from within the community, a move that often helps to mitigate cultural differences and language barriers.

“Insurance for free? Why is no one talking about this?!”

Time and time again, the Navigators shared stories of the impact health insurance had on their clients’ lives—including the elderly woman who had recently immigrated and didn’t have a social security card and wasn’t eligible for Medicare. Or the international student at Florida State who had no idea how health insurance in this country worked. “We helped him find a plan that was no cost to him,” said Allison Wiman, executive director of Big Bend AHEC. “The student said, ‘Insurance for free? Why is no one talking about this?!’”

A passion for what they do

A Navigator’s work can be complex and sometimes frustrating—but always rewarding, the meeting’s participants said.

“I absolutely love what I do,” said Rory Noonan, who works with FL-CKF’s USF Navigator team. “I actually got my own health insurance plan through the Navigator program when I was in graduate school and turned 26, and I can see directly how [our work] helps people. It feels good to tell people, ‘Congratulations, you now have health care.’”

“I remember many appointments in 2013 [when open enrollment in the health care marketplace began] when consumers would leave our offices walking much taller, as this was the first time they were able to obtain health coverage,” added Tammy Watson, military outreach coordinator with FL-CKF. “Being a small part of this is both humbling and rewarding.”

Health insurance open enrollment using the Health Insurance Marketplace begins Nov. 1 and closes Jan. 15. All Marketplace plans cover preventive health services as well as things such as prescription drugs and hospitalizations. They also provide coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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For more than 35 years, the USF College of Public Health (COPH) has played an active role in advancing the public’s health—at home and around the world.

On Sept. 23, Dr. Donna Petersen, dean of the USF COPH, gave her 17th State of the College Address in-person and virtually to faculty, staff and administration.

“You are all stakeholders and share in what we do at the college. You make things happen here that are good for all of us, most importantly good for our communities and the students that we train, educate and inspire so that they can go out and improve the lives of people everywhere,” Petersen said. “So, I’ll start this address with a thank you for all that you do.”

Year In Review

Beginning her address, Petersen addressed many of the accomplishment the college has had over the past year. Some of these included:

• Celebrating 10 years with the USF Florida Covering Kids and Family
• Creating the Lifelong Learning Academy
• Re-imagining the undergraduate MCH pipeline program to create the MCH Scholars for Social Justice
• Piloting the COPH ambassador program and recruited the 2022/2023 cohort
• Teaching 81,211student contact hours, up 2.8% over the prior year
• Returning to in-person events

Our People

Emphasizing that people are at the center of public health, Petersen led her presentation with the introduction of new faculty and staff. She also recognized those who have received awards or been acknowledged for achievements. In the last year at the college:

• Dean Donna Petersen was named chief health officer and interim associate vice provost of student health and wellness at USF.
• Dr. Tricia Penniecook was named interim vice president of the USF Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office.
• Fifty new faculty and staff were welcomed and the college saw six faculty promotions.
• Eleven COPH staffers were recognized with USF Outstanding Staff and USF COPH Outstanding Staff Awards.
• Thirteen faculty members were applauded for the awards and recognitions they received, both within the college and outside of it.
• Drs. Katherine Drabiak and Alison Oberne were awarded the Cliff Blair Award for Excellence in Teaching.
• CDR Lane Vause and Dr. Lynette Menezes were honored with USF COPH Outstanding Alumni Awards.

Strategic Plan

This past year the college has been active in building up its strategic plan to advance the public’s health by developing a diverse population of public health leaders through education, research and practice.

The five pillars of the strategic plan are below:

• Our people
  • Embrace an inclusive and diverse community where differences in age, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, race, ethnicity, professional experience, religious preference or other characteristics are valued.
  • Foster a community with a sense of belonging and connectedness among all faculty, staff, students and alumni.
  • Provide opportunities for all to thrive in their professional pursuits.
• Learning & Teaching
  • Lead in the delivery of an innovative and cutting-edge curricula for academic excellence and lifelong learning.
• Community Connections
  • Enhance community connections for multi-disciplinary outreach, education, advocacy and research.
  • Serve as a premier institution in promoting public health system capacity locally, statewide, nationally and internationally.
• Discovery & Dissemination
  • Engage in evidence-based scientific inquiry to generate new knowledge that benefits the public’s health.
  • Translate and disseminate research findings to impact and improve health outcomes for all groups.
• Structure & Sustainability
  • Create a forward-thinking academic infrastructure.
  • Develop and maintain financial practices that ensure the sustainability of the college.
  • Ensure our physical and technological infrastructures provide an optimal environment for working and learning.
  • Provide a communication infrastructure that enhances, promotes and sustains success, which fosters the recognition of the college nationally.

Looking Ahead

“Again, we had a fabulous year thanks to all of you and your contributions to the college,” Petersen said. “We are very excited for the upcoming year!”

Looking toward the future, the college plans to:

• Continue to innovate in curricula, teaching methods
  • Stacked credits
  • Plug-in modules 
• Continue to recruit outstanding faculty
  • Nutrition, disaster management, global health practice
• Engage more intentionally with our community
  • Build a truly responsive hub
• Support the research enterprise
  • As active research grows, grow the PhD program

Link to view the full USF College of Public Health State of the College Address here.

Story by Caitlin Keough, USF College of Public Health

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In 2023, the Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) Navigator Program, housed within the USF College of Public Health (COPH), will turn 10 years old.

This year the program employs some 200 Navigators, up from a low of 60 when funding was cut during the Trump Administration. Navigators not only help consumers—many of them in vulnerable, under-served populations—“navigate” health insurance enrollment using the Health Care Marketplace, but, according to FL-CKF Program Director Jodi Ray, they also help them navigate the entire health care system.

“Navigators are connecting enrollees to providers, helping them understand medical billing and giving them some health literacy,” Ray said. “Some people don’t know what to do once they get insurance. We tell them about things such as preventive care. Our job is so much bigger than enrollment work.”

And big jobs often come with big price tags.

This year FL-CKF was awarded $12.9 million by the U.S. Health and Human Service (HHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, part of a record-breaking grant awarding FL-CKF roughly $36 million over three years. The funds will be used to hire more Navigators, as well as for advertising and outreach, Ray said.

“We’re doing digital campaigns, broadcast TV, radio ads and ads on streaming services,” Ray said. “But we’re also going to focus on rural areas where many of our vulnerable populations live and where mass communication ads may not be successful. This year, we’ll be putting people on the ground in those hard-to-reach places. Navigators will be visiting laundromats, barber shops, beauty salons, bodegas and other places in the community to try and reach people. We also have a partnership with Walgreens, and we’ll be setting up tables in some stores. We’ll be utilizing some new things this year that we haven’t in the past because we have the resources to do so.”

Ray notes that in 10 years, the Navigator Program has tripled in size. What would she like to see in the future? More integration with other public health services, she says.

“The Navigator Program can be replicated to so many other health and social services,” Ray commented. “For example, housing insecurity and health care disparities and food insecurity all go hand in hand. People may be living in places where there’s a food desert or transportation is a barrier. The Navigator Program can be a model for navigating these other systems and services as well.”

Open health care enrollment runs from Nov. 1, 2022, to Jan. 15, 2023. For more information, click here.

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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Navigators from the USF College of Public Health’s Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) will be joined by those from the Family Healthcare Foundation on Nov. 10 at the USF Marshall Student Center to help consumers learn more about their coverage options through the federal health insurance marketplace. 

The free event will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Consumers can register for an appointment by calling toll-free (877) 813-9115 or visiting www.CoveringFlorida.org. Walk-ins are also welcome.

The 9th annual open enrollment season is coming on the heels of the most challenging year and a half that Floridians have faced in the health care arena. The COVID-19 pandemic’s health impacts, its ongoing job and wage losses and the related loss of employer-sponsored insurance make it tremendously important for consumers to be able to understand their options in successfully obtaining affordable health coverage for themselves and their families for 2022. 

Covering Florida navigators deliver free outreach and enrollment services to any Floridian that needs to enroll in health care coverage in the federal health insurance marketplace. Navigators are trained and certified to help consumers as they shop for their health coverage options through the marketplace, including completing eligibility and enrollment forms. Services are confidential and free to consumers in all of Florida’s 67 counties.

At the Nov. 10 event, FL-CKF navigators will be on hand to offer education about marketplace insurance, assist individuals and families with coverage choices and guide those interested in enrolling through the application process.

FL-CKF was awarded a nearly $12 million navigator grant for the 2021-2022 enrollment period. FL-CKF works with 9 consortium partners across the state to help those who want assistance understanding and enrolling in healthcare coverage available through the health insurance marketplace.

The last date to enroll for coverage that begins Jan. 1, 2022 (as well as the final day that 2022 enrollees can change policies before being “auto-reenrolled” in their previous health care coverage plan) is Dec.15, 2021.

Edited by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

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On Oct. 21, Dr. Donna Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health (COPH), gave her 16th State of the College Address virtually to faculty, staff and administration through Microsoft Teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am delighted to welcome you virtually to our State of the College Address,” Petersen said. “As always, we use this opportunity to highlight our college and people and to recognize those who have had particular achievements, welcome new faces and wrap up with a look-ahead.”

Year in Review

While the year was disrupted many times due to COVID-19, the COPH was able to prevail and still celebrate many successes. Some of these included:

• Holding the Inaugural Run Family Violence Out of Tampa 5k, sponsored by the Harrell Center
• Naming the first recipient of the Alena Frey scholarship
• Celebrating the Chiles Center 25th anniversary
• Offering USF OSHA Training Institute Education Center training in Spanish
• Launching Salud Latina USF to combat health misinformation in Spanish
• Welcoming students to the Bulls in Health Living Learning Community

Preparing Anti-Racist Public Health Professionals

“Last year I had mentioned that we had taken very seriously the events surrounding the murder of George Floyd and the response afterward,” Petersen said. “When you think about the social/moral determinants of health, you think about the historic racism that created the structure of many of our systems. This needs to be acknowledged, spoken about and acted upon.”

The COPH is “beginning at the beginning” with these new changes to combat racism and will continue to make the necessary changes. Some of these changes include:

• Eliminating the GRE requirement for admission
• Assigning summer reading and a reflection paper
  • 433 students learned something, were saddened, shocked, embarrassed, disgusted but also motivated, inspired and called to act
  • 1st assignment: identify a racist policy
  • 2nd assignment: identify a racist element in health care
  • Final exam: identify something “unacceptable” that must be changed

Our People

Emphasizing that people are at the center of public health, Petersen led her presentation with the introduction of new faculty and staff. She also recognized those who have received awards or been acknowledged for achievements. In the last year the college:

• Welcomed 27 new faculty and staff and saw nine faculty promotions
• Had two COPH staffers recognized with the USF Health Student Award Outstanding Shared Student Services Member and Provost’s Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Advising
• Applauded 12 faculty members who received awards and recognitions, both within the college and outside of it
• Saw Dr. Anna Armstrong, associate professor, and Laura Rusnak, instructor II, awarded the Cliff Blair Award for Excellence in Teaching
• Honored Dr. Joe Bohn, assistant professor, director of community engagement and deputy director of the DrPH program, with the 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award.
• Celebrated Florida Covering Kids & Families (FCKF) and Jodi Ray, instructor II and program director of FCKF, for receiving the largest federal grant ever awarded to this program.

Looking Ahead

“The world will never be as it once was. We will continue to work remotely, teach in different ways and engage differently. But culture is very important, and we will continue to cultivate a culture of mutual respect, honesty, transparency and commitment to our vision, mission and goals,” Petersen said. Coming up, the college will:

• Celebrate the COPH’s new normal with the Day of Renewal and Length of Service celebrations on Dec. 14
• Address loose ends with the structure at an all-college meeting
• Have an all-college retreat on the Academic Master Plan with partners, alumni, employees and students
• Launch an abbreviated strategic planning exercise

Link to view the full USF College of Public Health State of the College Address coming soon.

Story by Caitlin Keough, USF College of Public Health

The post Dean Petersen addresses the new normal in annual event appeared first on College of Public Health News.

U.S. President Joseph Biden has opened a special Affordable Care Act enrollment period to run until May 15, and the USF College of Public Health’s (COPH) Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) program is ready to assist.

FL-CKF manages the USF State Navigator Program and seven other organizations (collectively referred to as the “Covering Florida” consortium) that provide Navigator services across Florida.

Jodi Ray, director of FL-CKF, says this special open enrollment period (SEP) is open to everyone using the healthcare.gov platform specifically.

“This SEP is in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, which has left millions facing health problems, uncertainty and exceptional circumstances,” she said. “Consumers who enroll under this SEP will be able to select a plan with coverage that starts prospectively the first of the month after plan selection.”

She also says consumers will have 30 days after they submit their application to choose a plan.

“This SEP will not involve any new application questions or require consumers to provide any new information not otherwise needed to determine eligibility and enroll in coverage. Nor will they have to provide any information documenting a qualifying event, which is typically required for a special enrollment period,” Ray said.

Ray and her team of navigators are primarily booking virtual and phone appointments; however, they have adjusted their efforts accordingly to meet consumer needs.

“The reality is not everyone can be served that way,” she said. “We live in a state where there is still a digital divide. Lack of access to broadband and varying levels of both computer literacy and health insurance literacy can make reviewing, for example, 105 plans in Hillsborough County, very difficult. This is especially true when you add in language and cultural differences. Our job is to help everyone who needs help and do it in the way that is best for the individual.”

But, preventing the spread of COVID-19 while attending to those needs has also been on the forefront.

“As public health workers, we understand that we have to take the safety of both the consumer and staff seriously. While the COPH has really helped us with setting up our office safely, we are still trying to give as many consumers as possible those remote appointments,” she said.

Anyone who needs assistance in getting health coverage through the marketplace should call Covering Florida at 877-813-9115 or go on the website (coveringflorida.org) and book directly with a navigator closest to their zip code.

Ray said she anticipates longer enrollment periods in the future, given the change in administration in the White House. She also noted that past enrollment periods had gone down to as little as six weeks during the Trump administration. 

Last year, the project enrolled 2,788 consumers, and the two previous years before that 2,708 and 3,879 consumers.

“Of course, before 2017, the resources for enrollment and outreach were significantly higher, and so were our enrollment numbers,” Ray said. “Compared to just normal SEPs, we are running higher in call volume reflective of the open enrollment period for the same amount time.”

This, she says, is due in part to the pandemic.

“A lot of individuals who have mostly relied on employer coverage for access to health insurance are really having a tough time,” she said. “For example, gig workers and those in the performing arts are really needing help to navigate these programs they have never used. Since the number of individuals like this is growing at a pretty fast rate, this SEP will allow those who might have missed the last open enrollment period because they were unaware of the deadlines to apply and see if they can find an affordable plan, even if for the interim.”

She also noted that for those who already selected a plan during the last enrolment, changes can be made during this special enrollment period.

“This is a good chance to make sure that the plan they signed up for during the fall open enrollment period is still the best fit,” she said. “People might have a better idea of what their income and situations will be like for 2021. They may want to see if the plan they selected will meet their needs.”

Story by Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

The post Special open enrollment period reopens the door to health coverage appeared first on College of Public Health News.

Enrollment events are open to the USF campus and the community. Anyone with questions about coverage is welcome to attend.

In the coming month, USF’s Florida Covering Kids & Families will host several events to assist consumers with enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace. The community outreach and enrollment events are designed to help consumers learn more about their coverage options through the Federal Insurance Marketplace. The events will be held on the USF Tampa campus.

The last date to enroll for coverage that begins January 1 and the final day that 2019 enrollees can change policies before being “auto-enrolled” in their previous health care coverage plan is December 15. Walk-ins are welcome at enrollment events, but registration is recommended because parking is limited.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call toll-free (877) 813-9115.

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The Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) Program at the USF College of Public Health’s, received a two-year, $1 million grant.

The award, from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was presented on June 13, 2016 as part of the Connecting Kids to Coverage campaign.

Florida Covering Kids & Family staff members at an outreach event at Lowry Park Zoo. (Photo courtesy of FL-CKF)

The Connecting Kids to Coverage project aims to maximize existing opportunities and structures currently in place with the statewide Florida Covering Kids and Families Coalition and its network of regional collaborative partnerships to increase enrollment and retention in the Florida KidCare program, which includes Title XIX Medicaid and Title XX in the State of Florida.

In total, $32 million has been dispersed to 38 community organizations in 27 states, funded by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) legislation.

“I’m thankful we got this grant because it allows us to make sure we’re not only getting people into health coverage, but we have folks who are focused on children’s issues who are working side by side with the Navigator team around the state, so we’re able to get families covered,” said Jodi Ray, program director.

These awards represent the fourth cycle of outreach and enrollment grants that USF was a recipient of and are designed to build on the historic progress already made increasing the number of children who have health coverage.

Ray, who has been with the FL-CKF program since its inception at the USF COPH’s Lawton Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, said a new focus for this particular grant year will be an increased focus on working with free and charitable clinics to provide assistance and training on enrolling eligible uninsured children into health care coverage.

Program Director Jodi Ray speaks with members of the community during a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game. (Photo courtesy of FL-CKF).

“Getting those kids and those families connected to someone who can help them apply and enroll is going to be key,” Ray said. “Our goal is to be able to get the information out to the families where they are; where they eat, where they sleep, where they live. So, having that partnership with these organizations lends itself to a certain amount of credibility, increases our reach and increases the trust that we have in working with families around sensitive issues.”

FL-CKF will increase the number of Florida KidCare application assistance center networks throughout the state where families may apply and receive reliable assistance.

“Not having health coverage is a real impediment to most of the things we advocate for in public health,” Ray said. “I’ve talked to families who haven’t been able to get through the process, people who are living in their cars, and people who have children with serious health issues and couldn’t figure out how to get their child in for services. Some have told me they had to skip Christmas because all their money was going to be spent for the prescriptions needed for their child’s asthma.”

FL-CKF has established a statewide coalition to engage with members of the community, including those at health departments, hospitals, school districts, faith-based organizations and veteran’s agencies. (Photo courtesy of FL-CKF)

FL-CKF and their partners will engage schools, children’s hospitals, urgent care centers, and community organizations in outreach, enrollment, and retention activities to bridge health care coverage disparities through reaching out to specific subgroups of children that exhibit lower than average health coverage rates.

Local outreach projects under this grant will cover: Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Duval, Baker, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau, Putnam, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Sarasota, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties.

Related media:
Press release
List of grantees

Story by Lindsay Kuznia, Florida Covering Kids and Families, and Anna Mayor, USF College of Public Health

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