This bill — known as the ACA OUTREACH Act — would make a $1.2 billion investment over a four-year period in order to fund outreach activities by the federal health insurance marketplaces, state-run health insurance marketplaces, and local advocacy organizations to encourage health coverage enrollment — particularly among minority, rural, and underserved communities, people with disabilities, and young adults.
This bill would appropriate $300 million per year for ACA navigator grants and outreach and promotional activities for the next four fiscal years. Each year, it provides:
- $100 million for grants to navigator programs, which provide funding to organizations that educate consumers and facilitate enrollment during the Annual Open Enrollment Periods;
- $100 million for outreach and promotional activities by the federal government in states with a federally-facilitated health insurance marketplace; and
- $100 million for grants to states with a state-based marketplace to enhance outreach activities.
It’d also require that outreach and promotional activities specifically target populations that are most likely to be uninsured, such as young adults, African-Americans, Hispanics, and low-income Americans.
This bill’s full title is the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Outreach for the Uninsured, Transformative Recruitment, and Enrollment Action for Compassionate Healthcare (OUTREACH) Act.