Affordable Care Act / Obamacare and Health Insurance enrollment. - What Mpowerment Projects can do.

Everyone needs access to affordable health care, especially young adult bisexual and gay men. 

Millennial young bisexual and gay men's lives are in transition. There is a lot going on. Moving out, being independent, finding a job and/or going to a University or Community College.  Why is it important to think about preventative health care?  Yes, well gay men are at increased risk for certain chronic diseases and mental health problems. HIV infections are also increasing among young adult gay and bisexual men.  Think about it, nobody should go broke because they become ill, need medications or break an arm. Let's make it a goal to get more young men enrolled in health insurance. 

The DENIM Collection | Mpowerment Washington DC

This year open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) / Obamacare begins November 1, 2015. 

The deadline to sign up for coverage for January 1, 2016. 

Open enrollment ends January 31, 2016.

If you want a new plan to start January 1, 2015, you must renew or change your plan by December 15, 2014.

We need your help to keep things moving in the right direction for young adults. What can your Mpowerment Project do to encourage discussion about the ACA/Obamacare?  Mpowerment Projects (MP) can bring awareness and information about enrolling in health insurance coverage to their participants. Let these helpful sites guide you.

The Affordable Care Act helps young adult Gay and Bi men living with HIV. Here are some of the many ways that Obamacare helps everyone living with HIV. 

The Affordable Care Act and PrEP (see below).

What are your reasons to #GetCovered?

"Everything you need to bring the Affordable Care Act to your community."

The Healthy Young America Playbook

via Young Invincibles 

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"How to make the ACA T'werk for you" via Young Black Gay Mens Leadership Initiative

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Got Covered with Haven Mpowerment Project | Springfield MO

Mpowerment Projects can host discussion events on the importance of health insurance coverage and why young Gay/Bi men can benefit from having insurance. Have your Core Group members discuss ideas on how to get more young men enrolled in health care. Download the Out2Enroll social media toolkit for more ideas (see below).

"Maybe you’re celebrating pride or participating in a community health fair? We have some materials that may be able to help you communicate the importance of being Out2Enroll."

Check out the Out2Enroll resources. 
Borrow from the Out2Enroll Campaigns.

Get Enrolled Holiday 2013 video 

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"Affordable health insurance is here. You might be able to get covered now." Get Covered America.

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Get Covered. Health Care dot Gov.

The men of Latinos D | Mpowerment New York City NY

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New Data: Millennials Are Better Off with Obamacare

"We've known for a long time that if you give Millennials options for quality, affordable health insurance, they're going to enroll. Uninsured young adults know that they're just one accident or illness away from a medical and economic catastrophe.

In our outreach efforts across the country, many young adults say they were locked into jobs before the ACA became law -- just to have health insurance. Now that there are many affordable health plan options through the marketplace, it's no surprise that so many young people are signing up." 

Out2Enroll.org

I want to go on PrEP but I don’t have health insurance or a doctor. What’s the first step I should take? via betablog.org 

"To get Truvada for PrEP, you will need a prescription from a medical provider, so your first step is to make an appointment at a health center or clinic that has primary care and/or sexual health services and accepts patients without insurance. In selecting a clinic, you may want to ask whether they have providers who are able to prescribe PrEP and are open to discussing PrEP with their patients. Doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are all qualified to write PrEP prescriptions.

If you are uninsured, now is a great time to get coverage. The Affordable Care Act (AKA “Obamacare”) requires that all US citizens have insurance. Depending on your income, you may be eligible for Medicaid, or you may be able to purchase insurance through an online marketplace. (In California, this marketplace is called Covered California; if you live outside of California, visit Healthcare.gov) Depending on your individual circumstances, you may be able to get insurance now, or may need to wait for the next enrollment period to open. When choosing a plan, you’ll want to consider whether Truvada for PrEP is covered by the plan and at what cost (i.e., what the co-pay is for Truvada).

Here is a step-by-step checklist of what you need to make your appointment.

1. If you are uninsured, visit CoveredCA.com (if you live in California) or Healthcare.gov (if you live outside of California) to learn more about getting coverage.
2. Make an appointment to get PrEP at a health center that has primary care/sexual health services and accepts patients without insurance (or accepts your insurance if you are insured).
3. Ask for a sexual health check-up and an evaluation for PrEP. Set up a reminder so you don’t miss the appointment.
4. Do your homework: Check out the CDC’s brochure “How to talk to your doctor about PrEP", PrEPfacts.org, My PrEP Experience blog and Project Inform for information and support. 

Accessing PrEP is a process. It may take a few weeks to months to process any required paperwork and have baseline lab tests performed prior to getting a prescription for PrEP."

Pedro and Gustavo | Generation L Mpowerment Chicago IL -  USCA 2014

16 Steps. Starting the Mpowerment Project in your community

via the Mpowerment Manual - Module 1 Overview.

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Admit you have a problem - you need to implement your Mpowerment Project (MP) and you haven't a clue where to begin. That's the goal of this blog post, to guide you through the general steps of starting an Mpowerment Project in your community. Developing a time frame to start a Project differs from community to community and from budget to budget. Each community must adapt these steps to it's Project's goals, funding for the program, and level of interest they are able to generate within the community. 

Keep in mind that many of these steps overlap. You can work on more than one simultaneously. You do not necessarily complete one step before beginning another. For example, you will be meeting with leaders in your community to promote awareness of your MP during the same time that you will have your coordinators conducting a community assessment and establishing a Core Group.

RELATED:  What is the Mpowerment Project? Download Module 1: Mpowerment Overview.

The Evolution Project | Mpowerment Atlanta GA

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Step 1 The Executive Director and HIV Prevention/Education Supervisor become familiar with the basic ideas of the Mpowerment Project. Review materials on mpowerment.org, including the Executive Director audio- slideshow (an online presentation that summarizes information critical for Executive Directors). Consult with Technical Assistance providers at the UCSF Capacity Building Assistance Partnership.

FUSE | Mpowerment Dallas Texas

Step 2 Assess whether the agency is ready to implement the Mpowerment Project’s Core Elements, following the Guiding Principles. The Guiding Principles are explained the Overview Module. Determine if the Mpowerment Project is a good fit for the agency and community.

Step 3 Secure adequate funding for the Project. (Download Module 3:Implementing Agency for more information about funding issues.) Starting the Project with only a half-time staff person is unlikely to result in a well- functioning program. Technical Assistance providers from the UCSF Capacity Building Assistance Partnership can also help by providing sample proposals and budget information, and by reviewing draft proposals.

RELATED: Funding best practices, interview with a funder.  

Step 4 Identify appropriate staff to serve as Coordinators for the Project by sending job announcements to agencies, by placing ads on appropriate Internet sites (e.g., craigslist), and by placing ads in local gay/bisexual, alternative, and university newspapers (See Module 4: Coordinators). Hiring staff that are appropriate for the intervention is one of the most important issues with respect to being able to implement the Project successfully.

 

Step 5 Hire and train Project Coordinator or Coordinators (Download Module3: Implementing Agency, and Module 4: Coordinators), review materials on the Mpowerment website, and attend the Mpowerment training. Let us know how we can assist your organization.

RELATED:  Join us. Attend the Mpowerment Project training. 

Step 6 Perform baseline evaluations of sexual risk behavior among young gay/bisexual men in the community before starting to implement the Project  Download Module 12: Evaluation.

Step 7 Coordinators conduct the community assessment (Download and read Module

SOMOS OC | Mpowerment Orange County CA

2: Community Assessment). This will help you to identify the different groups of young adult bisexual and gay men in the community, community resources, and people in the community who are relevant to the Project. It is important to note that this is not a “Needs Assessment,” which is generally a much larger, more complicated, and more expensive task.

Step 8 Meet with community leaders and relevant agencies to inform them of the Project.  Download Module 2: Community Assessment, Module 4:Coordinators, and Module 11: Community Advisory Board.

Step 9 Assemble a Core Group (Download Module 5: Core Group). This involves: 

1. identifying potential Core Group members from the different segments of the young gay/bisexual men’s community, and 
2. convening a meeting with them in which the Project is described to them and they are invited to join the Core Group.

Step 10 Coordinators and the Core Group (with approval from implementing agency) locate a Project space and furnish it (Download Module 6:Project Space).

Step 11 Identify and train additional M-group facilitators if you only have one Coordinator. Be sure to download our latest M-Group facilitators guide for free at www.mpowerment.org.

Step 12 Initiate Social Outreach Events to attract men to the Project and to begin community-building. Download Module 7: Formal Outreach—SocialOutreach Events and Outreach Team.

Mpowerment YVR | Vancouver BC

Step 13 Begin the process of the Core Group selecting a Project name, logo, and tagline (See Module 5: Core Group and Module 10: Publicity), and identifying initial Social Outreach Events that the Core Group wants to conduct and attend (See Module 7: Formal Outreach—Social Outreach Events andOutreach Team).

Step 14 Begin conducting Social Outreach Events. Projects often start off with a medium to large Social Outreach Event as a way of announcing the Project to the community. Other smaller Social Outreach Events are also started (Download Module 7: Formal Outreach—Social Outreach Events andOutreach Team).

Step 15 Develop Project promotional materials, develop a publicity and social media plan, and conduct publicity for Project and Social Outreach Events (Download Module 10:Publicity).

Step 16 Meet with potential Community Advisory Board members, and invite them to join the Community Advisory Board (Download Module 11:Community Advisory Board). 

Grand Opening The Q Austin with a Proclamation by the Mayor in 2014 | Mpowerment Austin Texas 

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The Mpowerment Manual Module 1 Overview and the additional Mpowerment Modules are free downloads when you register at www.mpowerment.org

Be sure to connect with the Mpowerment Project on Facebook and Twitter.

cba.ucsf.edu