Automatic Enrollment Is Key
Numerous studies show that automatically enrolling people in benefits programs, rather than requiring they submit an application, increases participation dramatically.
The rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will extend health coverage to millions of uninsured low-income individuals.This report explores the ways in which implementation of the ACA enables other agencies serving low-income households to streamline and modernize their own systems to ensure that families are accessing all the services for which they are eligible while potentially reducing errors and administrative costs.
The data-driven eligibility process at the heart of ACA provides other human service agencies an opportunity to more easily determine their clients’ eligibility for other services, increasing the chances that children and families will receive all the benefits for which they qualify. Working together, state and federal agencies have a chance to reduce administrative costs and errors while increasing the number of households who access these important supports to improve quality of life for themselves and their children.