This report from Out2Enroll summarizes key lessons for outreach and enrollment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals for health insurance through the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. The report first identified the following barriers to outreach and enrollment of LGBT populations:
- The visibility and effectiveness of LGBT-oriented outreach and enrollment varied significantly by state.
- Stakeholders—including federal and state marketplaces, assisters, community leaders, and Out2Enroll—took advantage of a variety of opportunities to engage LGBT people.
- LGBT outreach was complicated in many states by uncertainty surrounding outstanding policy issues related to relationship recognition, transgender health, HIV coverage, and plan transparency.
The report documents lessons learned in successful outreach and enrollment of LGBT individuals:
- Engage LGBT and ally organizations and community leaders in outreach and enrollment efforts.
- Embed enrollment and LGBT cultural competency in your institution’s culture.
- Put enrollment in the broader context of people’s lives.
- Reflect the diversity of LGBT communities.
- Collaborate with trusted organizations.
- Personalize your messages.
- Be out and proud about your efforts.
- Share success stories of LGBT enrollment.
Moving forward, the report recommends:
- Outreach and enrollment efforts in every state should explicitly include LGBT communities.
- Assisters should receive LGBT-specific cultural competency training.
- All marketplaces should collect voluntary demographic information on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Ignatius Bau 