Consumer Advocacy Organization: Health Care For All
Boston, MA | www.hcfama.org
Contact: MarÃa R. Gonzalez Albuixech, Director of Communications and Marketing
In 2011, Massachusetts estimated 32,000 children, 2% of all children in the state, were uninsured. A large number of Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking immigrants live in Massachusetts. So many of the uninsured children’s parents faced language barriers or held fears regarding how enrolling in public health insurance would affect immigrations status. In order to reach out to uninsured children, Health Care for All (HCFA) decided to host a phone-a-thon to enroll children and teens into the state’s CHIPRA program.
A phone-a-thon is a campaign to get support or funds for a particular cause. Volunteers can make or receive phone calls from donors and supporters. In this case, HCFA designated a specific day to extend its HelpLine hours as an enrollment phone-a-thon event. HCFA already had a free HelpLine resource available to everyone in the state. By dialing an 800 number, callers get up-to-date information about eligibility and health coverage in Massachusetts from trained HelpLine staff. The HelpLine information is usually available from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
HCFA heavily promoted the phone-a-thon three weeks prior to the event. HCFA staff reached out to 20 faith-based groups and churches, 31 Portuguese and Spanish language radio programs, and mailed postcards to 387 organizations. In total, HCFA sent out 14,947 postcards in English, 16,247 in Spanish, and 17,947 in Portuguese. HCFA also distributed 624 tri-lingual posters. The Phone-a-thon was promoted in paid media spots on Globo, the main Brazilian TV station, and Univision, the main Latino TV station. In addition, HCFA promoted the Phone-a-thon using social media such as Facebook and Latino social networking sites. Finally, in order to prepare for the event, HCFA recruited staff and volunteers to answer the calls.
The event was largely successful. The HelpLine was extended for an additional four hours; from 9 am to 9 pm. Staff and volunteers responded to callers questions and provided health coverage information. Staff and volunteers also helped enroll children over the phone. On the day of the Phone-a-thon, HCFA received 405 phone calls, and staff submitted applications for 114 children into eligible state public insurance programs. In the month that followed, additional applications were submitted for 129 children. Callers reported hearing about the Phone-a-thon primarily through TV ads (27%), radio spots (21%), and friends (17%). The callers’ language preferences were evenly split with 33% of callers preferring to receive assistance in Portuguese, 32% in Spanish, and 31% in English. HelpLine staff collected this evaluation information during each call.
The success of the event was mainly attributed to raising awareness, the media campaign in advance of the Phone-a-thon, and strategic partnerships. Key partners such as the Children’s Health Access Coalition provided feedback on HCFA’s CHIPRA activities and helped spread the word about the campaign. HCFA also partnered with other community and faith-based organizations to market and expand the reach of the event.
Planning is important for a successful Phone-a-thon. First, an organization must have the infrastructure to support the event. HCFA already had a well-designed, established HelpLine and a wealth of volunteers to assist in a variety of languages. In Massachusetts, the target population was relatively small because only 2% of children in the state were not enrolled. So HCFA was confident that it could handle the inflow of calls. Lastly, much time, energy, and money will be spent to promote the event. There are costs associated with media spots and producing and distributing print materials. In order to make the event successful, HCFA invested a significant amount of financial and staff resources, including its CHIPRA’s grant.
Health Care for All is dedicated to empowering healthcare consumers and ensuring the most vulnerable populations are educated about available healthcare options and connected to health services. HCFA conducts policy analysis and provides information referral, personal and legal advocacy, community organizing, and public education. HCFA is committed to connecting as many eligible people to coverage as possible.
HOP Tip: HOP developed a Public Health Insurance Outreach Training-of-Trainers curriculum to equip outreach staff with effective tools, information, and techniques for enrolling vulnerable populations into public health insurance benefits programs. The curriculum includes information about public health insurance basics, addressing barriers to access and strategies for increasing enrollment. Contact HOP for more information on the curriculum.