CONNECTING WITH COVERAGE: LGBT COMMUNITIES AND THE ACA

=?

9 Million LGBT Americans

Source: The Williams Institute

Examples of LGBT Health Disparities

⬆ Tobacco use⬆ Depression⬆ Breast cancer⬆ Experiences of violence⬆ HIV/AIDS infection

⬇ Insurance coverageSource: The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People

(Institute of Medicine, 2011), Healthy People 2020

Source: www.calbuzz.com

Coverage for Low/Middle-Income LGBT

Uninsured 34%

Parent's plan 6%

Self-pur-

chased plan 5%

Employer-sponsored

29%

Medicare 12%

Medicaid 15%

Among LGBT people with annual incomes under 400% FPLSource: Center for American Progress

Among LGBT people with annual incomes under 400% FPLSource: Center for American Progress

Series1

29%

43%

58%

Access to Employer-Sponsored Insurance Coverage

All LGBT LGBT Insured All Non-LGBT

<$16,000 $16,000-$23,000 $23,000-$34,000 $34,000-$45,0000%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Percent of LGBT Respondents in Different Income Brackets

Annual IncomeAmong LGBT people with annual incomes under 400% FPL

Source: Center for American Progress

Non-LGBT population

“I don’t have insurance…and I’m somewhat un-hireable in a lot of ways, so it’s hard to find a job, a decent job that has insurance.”

“Nobody wanted to talk about it…we got the runaround for at least three or four months. So finally I was like, okay, you know what? I’m fine, I’m living, I’m not dying, I’ll survive, we’ll figure out something else later. You kind of give up.”

“We [LGBT people] are the group that they don’t talk about. Or the group that they don’t want to talk about.”

Among LGBT people with annual incomes under 400% FPLSource: Center for American Progress

LGBT State Exchanges Project• Launched at the Center for American Progress in Jan 2012.

• Mission: To ensure that new coverage options under the ACA are accessible to LGBT individuals and their families.

But LGBT people don’t know about their new coverage options.

Knows about the mandate: Knows about new coverage options:

64% 29%

Among LGBT people with annual incomes under 400% FPLSource: Center for American Progress

Out2Enroll is here to help!

Rainbow widget by Enroll America

Our mission: To educate LGBT community members about their new coverage options under the ACA.

Federal Agencies Project

www.out2enroll.org

Photo credit: One Colorado

Source: The White House, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Source: Health Care for All NY

Don’t make assumptions about applicants:• Gender or gender identity• Preferred name or gender pronoun• Sexual orientation• Relationship status• HIV/AIDS status• Health services that the person may need

When in doubt, politely ask rather than guessing. Simply apologize and move on in case of a mistake.

Source: Adapted from the Center for American Progress and the LGBT Task Force of the New York State Healthcare for All New York Campaign

“[Navigators] just have to be told very clearly…[you’re] not here to go, like, umm, oh, my God, what do I do? Just, this is the kind of person that will be calling in. A human.”

Thank you!

Kellan Bakerkbaker@americanprogress.org

www.out2enroll.orgwww.americanprogress.org