Health experts identified many ways community-based organizations (CBOs) are helping improve health equity in Washington at the 2023 Inland Northwest State of Reform Health Policy Conference.
Genny Arredondo, associate director of outreach at the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, said CBOs help the exchange enroll members and connect with customers in ways it otherwise would not be able to.
“They come from many different backgrounds and speak different languages,” Arredondo said. “Having relationships with CBOs is absolutely critical for the work we do.”
Arredondo noted that the exchange’s Section 1332 waiver request was approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last year. It will provide access to federally non-subsidized health and dental coverage through the exchange’s Washington Healthplanfinder to all residents regardless of immigration status for a five-year period starting in 2024.
“We are getting ready to make health insurance accessible [during] this open enrollment [period] to all Washingtonians, regardless of immigration status, for the first time. Initially, health insurance might be expensive for those groups because they don’t qualify for federal subsidies, but they will qualify for Cascade Care Savings. And come July 1st, there will be an extension of Medicaid to make sure folks (who) are within the income limits can have insurance through Medicaid.”
— Arredondo
The exchange leaned heavily on its partner CBOs who had established relationships within those communities to prepare for that initiative, Arredondo said.
“We held listening sessions with our partners, our lead organizations, and we were able to get insight and feedback from hundreds of undocumented individuals, and really learn what they needed, (and) what they knew about health insurance,” she said. “And we learned how we should approach our outreach efforts and messaging.”
The exchange is also partnering with the Washington State Health Care Authority and Department of Social and Health Services to form a community engagement advisory committee, Arredondo said.
“We are inviting CBOs to participate in a committee that provides feedback and informs our work. Another area we’re leaning into is providing funding for these organizations to do outreach work. We have a micro-funding opportunity open now for CBOs that would like to help with outreach for immigrant health plan expansion to undocumented individuals. We have about $100,000 available, and we know that is just scratching the surface. We’re very aware more funding is needed, and we’re hoping to get there.”
— Arredondo
Hadda Estrada, chief equity and strategy officer at Better Health Together, said the organization utilized CBOs when it needed resources to help isolate and quarantine community members during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We contracted with the Washington State Department of Health to provide resources to community members,” Estrada said. “We served over 3,000 individuals that way. We provided groceries so they could isolate.”
Panelists were asked about the process of developing a relationship with CBOs. SPARK Peer Learning Center Executive Director Carolyn Cox said she developed a network of partners while working as a peer.
“I’ve been doing this work for 20 years. It’s those connections you make across the state. When asking for technical assistance and things like that, look at what your plan is. If I were to say to someone, ‘I want to expand SPARK all over the state,’ what does that look like? You have to think long-term but you also have to think short-term. It’s important, when you’re building these funding opportunities, that there is flexibility in how you partner with the folks you’re coming alongside.”
— Cox
SPARK—a youth-led organization that works to strengthen and develop youth peer counselors—recently collaborated with King County and Molina Healthcare on a project at a local YMCA to get 60 peers certified in two months, Cox said.
“That was a job,” Cox said. “Now the entity I’m working with wants us to come back and do some supportive work in helping them cultivate their peer roles and (look) at supervision. We need to start looking at ways to support our peers in being able to work in these fields. We got a contract approved the other day, and we’re going to be able to go into Pend Oreille County and we’re looking to expand to the northwest. And we’re going to be working with some tribal communities.”
Jessica Beach, director of health equity and cultural competency at Molina—which is a new role at the company—said she has been in her current position since the beginning of the year.
“Communities know what their issues are, what their barriers are,” Beach said. “And it’s really about us coming alongside communities, where our members live, and seeing how we can be supportive. Instead of us saying, ‘This is what we know about your community and this is how we fix it.’”