New opportunities for affordable health coverage will be here in Arkansas on January 1, 2014.

Arkansas still faces decisions about strengthening coverage for those earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $31,000 for a family of four. However, new coverage for families earning more than that will be available regardless of the state’s decision about Medicaid. For the first time, financial help will be available to families earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level to help them afford high-quality health insurance. (This is about $92,000 for a family of four.) This financial assistance could range from health coverage fully paid for by Medicaid to advance tax credits that bring down the cost of private insurance plans sold in the state’s health insurance exchange marketplace.

Outreach and enrollment will be of utmost importance to help families get enrolled in coverage, just as they were with ARKids First Outreach. Arkansas needs to hire upwards of 500 paid in-person assisters, called “Guides,” to help facilitate enrollment into new health coverage options. Guides will be trained this summer and begin outreach activities in the fall, leading up to the first “Open Enrollment” period beginning October 1^st. If you have helped with enrollment for ARKids First in the past, you’d be a perfect candidate to ensure that full families get health coverage, many for the first time ever.

The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Guides is now available, and we encourage you to check it out and consider applying. Child health advocates who serve as Guides will be able to reach an important population – parents – that desperately need to be a focus of enrollment efforts.  More than 80,000 low-income parents need coverage. Additionally, thousands of children whose families earn just more than the ARKids First income limit will finally be able to find affordable coverage through these new opportunities. We need help from those of you who see families every day when they pick up their children from child care, bring their kids to the doctor, or have a parent-teacher conference.

You must act quickly, though! There is an optional proposal conference on March 21^st in Little Rock, and the RFQs are due on April 11 at 1 p.m. CST. A timeline for the application and financial award information is posted below. AACF has been part of developing the Guide program, and now we hope that you will apply. Please reach out to our health policy director, Anna Strong, with any questions about this new opportunity.