USF open enrollment event draws Tampa Mayor and White House
As the third-year of open enrollment kicked off nationwide Nov. 1 for the federal Health Insurance Marketplace, attention was once again on the USF College of Public Health, which for the second consecutive year attracted the largest Navigator grant in the country. This time Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and White House Special Assistant to the President Michael Smith toured the community outreach event hosted by USF Health navigators, observing firsthand students and families signing up for health care insurance.
The “Nav-Lab” was set up in the USF Marshall Student Center and both Buckhorn and Smith were introduced to navigators and consumers by Jodi Ray, project director for the Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) program at the Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, USF College of Public Health.
The added attention stems from the fact that USF received a $5.9M 2016 Navigator grant, once again the country’s largest award, to help educate uninsured Floridians about the insurance plans that can best meet their health care and financial needs and assist those eligible with enrollment. This year, the focus will be to help consumers understand how to get the most out of their coverage as well continue new enrollments and renewals, officials said.
After visiting the consumer Nav-Lab, Buckhorn and Smith joined other representatives from USF, Enroll America and a USF Health Morsani College of Medicine student, who is a local Marketplace consumer, for a press conference to talk about this year’s enrollment.
(from left) Michael Smith, Jodi Ray and Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn at ACA Open Enrollment Kickoff in the USF Marshall Ctr.
Open Enrollment gives millions of uninsured Floridians the opportunity to enroll in health coverage for the calendar year of 2016. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), almost half of the remaining Marketplaces-eligible uninsured are between the ages of 18 and 34. Also, despite historic gains in coverage, Latinos and African Americans are still more likely to be uninsured than their white counterparts.
Because of these facts, this year’s push is keenly focused on that younger group and on minorities, Smith said.
“You could not talk about health care in this country without talking about serving what are some of our most vulnerable youth and communities,” Smith said.
Read the full story at USF Health News