BREAKING BARRIERS: Improving Health Insurance Enrollment and Access to Health Care

With support from the WK Kellogg Foundation, the Alliance for a Just Society conducted grounded research in 10 states (California, Florida,
Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Texas) to explore how those who need health care the most—low income
people, immigrants, and people of color—are experiencing ACA implementation. The methodology includes an examination of public data, interviews with state-based navigators, policy and health care professionals,and advocates, and 1,200 surveys in Spanish, Cantonese, and English with low to moderate-income health care consumers at food pantries, health clinics,and homeless service centers. This report examines the following questions: Who was able to sign up for health insurance? How effective was outreach to undeserved communities? How accessible are health care services to newly enrolled patients? And finally, what changes might make the current health care delivery system more effective in serving low-income communities, immigrant communities, and communities of color?