Resource for Assisting Individuals with Disabilities in ACA Marketplace

The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) has established the National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative (NDNRC) to provide cross-disability information and support to Navigators and other enrollment specialists thereby ensuring people with disabilities receive accurate information when selecting and enrolling in insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces. The NDNRC website can be found here.

Persons with disabilities lacking health insurance face at least the following options as key elements of the Affordable Care Act: Medicaid in their state, possible Medicaid buy-in in their state, possible Medicaid expansion in their state, and Marketplace insurance coverage. The NDNRC aims to provide the information needed to help navigators assist people with disabilities consider all these options. The NDNRC puts out a weekly newsletter with information relevant to navigators and those doing enrollment work. To receive this NDNRC Update, you can sign up on the NDNRC homepage and to access the archives for the NDNRC Updates, click here.

Included on the NDNRC website are numerous resources to assist individuals with disabilities as they are considering their options for enrollment. On the NDNRC website, you will find the “Guide to Disability for Healthcare Insurance Marketplace Navigators” which is designed to inform navigators and other enrollment specialists about special considerations people with disabilities face as they shop for healthcare coverage. The Guide is intended to serve as a “Disability 101” and can be found here. The NDNRC has also released both topical and population-specific fact sheets addressing issues for individuals with disabilities as they evaluate health insurance plans in the marketplace. To date, the NDNRC has released 17 topical fact sheets and 9 population-specific fact sheets and they can be found here.

If you are looking for local partners to help with outreach to the disability community, the NDNRC has funded eighteen Community Outreach Collaboratives (COCs) in 17 different states – including at least one in each of the HHS regions. The COCs increase collaborations in the community, dissemination and outreach efforts and enrollment of people with disabilities in the ACA. To find if there is a COC in your state, click here.