The Partnership Center Newsletter: Faith Communities and World AIDS Day
November 15, 2013 Edition
In this issue, you will find…
Letter from Partnership Center Acting Director, Acacia Bamberg Salatti
Featured Update: Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard Koh on Faith Communities and World AIDS Day
Mental Health Parity Final Rule Released
"Second Sunday" enrollment events
The Affordable Care Act Helps Refugees
How To Order Health Care Law Posters and Other Materials
Webinar on the Role of Faith Leaders in Suicide Prevention
Stakeholder Health Q&A
New Online Toolkit on Preventing Teen Dating Violence
Visión y Compromiso’s Promotores and Community Health Worker Conference
New Assets for Independence Application Webinars Scheduled
Upcoming Events
Grant Opportunities
Dear Partners:
World AIDS Day is December 1st. This day serves as an opportunity for every sector, including faith and community-based organizations, to take action to reduce HIV infection rates, increase access to care, and ensure that members of our communities are free from stigma and discrimination. Please see the Featured Update from Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health, to learn more about how your community can join this effort.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more people than ever will have access to high-quality, life-extending care. As HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius wrote recently, “One of the things we’ve learned since October 1 is that the demand for affordable health coverage is very, very high…HealthCare.gov can and will be fixed, and we are working around the clock to deliver the shopping experience that you deserve.”
Americans can sign up by December 15, 2013, for coverage starting as early as January 1, 2014. Open enrollment continues until March 31, 2014. In addition to using HealthCare.gov, individuals and families can apply for health insurance by phone or through an in-person assister. To apply by phone, you can call (toll-free) 1-800-318-2596 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; there are operators available that speak 150 languages. To contact a navigator or assister in your community to help with the enrollment process, go to LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov. M
ore information about getting covered can be found at http://www.healthcare.gov/
how-do-i-apply-for-
marketplace-coverage.
I also want to highlight an upcoming webinar co-hosted by the HHS Partnership Center and The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention on “The Role of Faith Leaders in Suicide Prevention.” The webinar will take place on Thursday, December 5th at 4 p.m. EST. For more details and to register, please visit http://edc.adobeconnect.com/
faithcommunities2/event/event_
info.html. For additional webinars on the Affordable Care Act and Let’s Move Faith and Communities, please see our Upcoming Events.
We look forward to partnering with many of you in the coming months. To share your efforts related to World AIDS Day, your ideas for promoting National HIV Testing Day on June 27th, or any other work, please contact the HHS Partnership Center at Partnerships@hhs.gov or 202-358-3595.
Sincerely,
Acacia Bamberg Salatti, Acting Director
Center for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Featured Update:
Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard Koh on Faith Communities and World AIDS Day
by Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH
Assistant Secretary for Health
On December 1, 2013, we will mark the 25th observance of World AIDS Day. It offers us an opportunity to honor the past, plan for the future and educate ourselves and our loved ones about HIV prevention, testing, and treatment.
Furthermore, we can use this time to address the ongoing stigma that puts people at risk for two issues – HIV and suicide – connected by the linchpin of sexuality. HIV continues to disproportionately affect young, gay and bisexual men – especially those in the African American and Latino communities. A major driver is the stigma that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people continue to face, both in their homes and in their communities.
Specifically, stigma and discrimination increase the likelihood that LGBT persons will engage in behaviors that pose major health risks, including unprotected sex and attempted suicide. Of special concern are young people, since:
LGBT youth are significantly more likely than their straight peers to be sexually active, to have had multiple partners, and to have engaged in unprotected sexual activity – greatly increasing their risk for HIV infection.[1]
LGB youth are 400% more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.[2]
Nearly 50% of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their lives, and 25% report having made a suicide attempt.[3]
LGB youth who suffer from high levels of family rejection are 840% more likely to have attempted suicide compared to LGB peers who reported no, or low, levels of family rejection.[4]
In short, family acceptance is key to helping LGBT youth develop into healthy adults and to lowering their risks for both HIV and suicide. Faith communities can play a major role in promoting this acceptance, and in supporting families whose children may be at risk.
On World AIDS Day, we must focus efforts on eliminating the stigma that puts so many of our children at risk for life-threatening challenges. I encourage you to visit AIDS.gov to learn more about HIV prevention. You can also find suicide prevention resources at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) website.
And, if you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) or visit the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Families, as well as faith and community leaders, can all join in renewed national efforts to create an AIDS-free generation.
[1] http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
preview/mmwrhtml/ss6007a1.htm
[2] http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
preview/mmwrhtml/ss6007a1.htm
[3] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pubmed/17967119
[4] http://pediatrics.
aappublications.org/content/
123/1/346.full.html
Mental Health Parity Final Rule Released
Last week, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury jointly issued a final rule increasing parity between mental health/substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits in group and individual health plans.
This action also includes specific additional consumer protections, such as:
Ensuring that parity applies to intermediate levels of care received in residential treatment or intensive outpatient settings;
Clarifying the scope of the transparency required by health plans, including the disclosure rights of plan participants, to ensure compliance with the law;
Clarifying that parity applies to all plan standards, including geographic limits, facility-type limits and network adequacy; and
Eliminating the provision that allowed insurance companies to make an exception to parity requirements for certain benefits based on “clinically appropriate standards of care,” which clinical experts advised was not necessary and which is confusing and open to potential abuse.
The Affordable Care Act builds on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and requires coverage of mental health and substance use disorder services as one of ten essential health benefits categories. Under the essential health benefits rule, individual and small group health plans are required to comply with these parity regulations.
“This final rule breaks down barriers that stand in the way of treatment and recovery services for millions of Americans,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Building on these rules, the Affordable Care Act is expanding mental health and substance use disorder benefits and parity protections to 62 million Americans. This historic expansion will help make treatment more affordable and accessible.”
The final rules may be viewed at www.federalregister.gov. A fact sheet on the rules is available here:http://cms.hhs.gov/CCIIO/
Programs-and-Initiatives/
Other-Insurance-Protections/
mhpaea_factsheet.html.
“Second Sunday” enrollment events
In an effort to increase awareness and enrollment in the health insurance marketplace, faith-based liaisons from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are launching “Second Sunday” enrollment events with faith-based organizations across the country on Sunday, December 8th.
The intent is to utilize a variety of ministries and strategies within faith communities to promote the December 8thenrollment day. They include: Pulpit Announcements; Demonstration of HealthCare.gov website; Men’s Ministries; Mother Boards; First Lady Ministries; Youth Ministries; Health Ministries; and Share with Family and Friends. In addition, Missions Ministries and Mercy Ministries are good sources to help those who are homebound or who are caregivers.
By working with faith-based liaisons and partner organizations, including Champions for Coverage, Certified Application Counselors, Navigators, Enroll America, and other In-person Assisters, the CMS Regional Office will have a presence in churches across the nation and can assist consumers with enrollment in the insurance marketplace. CMS has developed pulpit announcements for clergy leaders to utilize as well as bookmarks and flyers the local faith-based organizations can distribute to promote the Second Sunday events.
If your organization is interested in participating, please contact your regional office faith-based liaison using the following regional email address. Click here to see which HHS region you are in.
Region 1: ROBOSORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 6: RODALORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 2: RONYCORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 7: ROKCMORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 3: ROPHIORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 8: ROREAORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 4: ROATLORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 9: ROSFOORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 5: ROCHIORA@cms.hhs.gov
Region 10: ROSEA_ORA2@cms.hhs.gov
The Affordable Care Act Helps Refugees
The Affordable Care Act helps refugees and their families afford health insurance so that they can visit the doctor and get the health care they need to stay healthy. Refugees can start applying for health insurance by completing the application that is available at www.healthcare.gov or calling the Health Insurance Marketplace consumer call center at 1-800-318-2596 and asking for an interpreter.
Apply before December 15, 2013 for health insurance to start on January 1, 2014. Learn more about how the Affordable Care Act helps refugees by watching this video that features recently resettled refugees in the U.S.; the video is available in English, Sgaw Karen, Arabic, Somali, Nepali, and Kinyarwanda: http://www.acf.
hhs.gov/programs/orr/health.
How To Order Health Care Law Posters and Other Materials
Organizations and individuals interested in ordering posters, flyers, fact sheets and other materials can go to the CMS Product Ordering website for more information:
1. Type in the URL address of the CMS Product Ordering Website: http://
productordering.cms.hhs.gov
2. Select the link Create New Account.
3. For questions, please e-mail: support@cmspow.us.
Webinar on the Role of Faith Leaders in Suicide Prevention
The HHS Partnership Center and The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention will co-host a webinar, “The Role of Faith Leaders in Suicide Prevention.”
Date: Thursday, December 5
Time: 4-5 p.m. Eastern (3-4 p.m. Central; 2-3 p.m. Mountain; 1-2 p.m. Pacific)
For more details and to register, visit http://edc.adobeconnect.
com/faithcommunities2/event/
event_info.html
Please test your computer compatibility ahead of time by clicking on the following link and installing necessary plug-ins to make sure you can connect during the webinar:https://edc.
adobeconnect.com/common/help/
en/support/meeting_test.htm
Stakeholder Health Q&A
The following article first appeared on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s blog, New Public Health:http://www.rwjf.org/en/
blogs/new-public-health/2013/
11/stakeholder_health.html.
Stakeholder Health, formerly known as the Health Services Learning Group, is a learning collaborative made up of 43 organizations, including 36 nonprofit health systems, that have met for close to two years to share innovative practices aimed at improving health and economic viability of communities.
The idea for the learning collaborative came from a series of meetings at the White House Office and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Centers for Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships. The Stakeholder Health administrative team is based at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare Center for Excellence in Faith and Health in Memphis, Tenn., and at Wake Forest Baptist Health System in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provided a grant to share the group’s findings and lessons learned.
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