National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative

Resources:

NDNRC Website

NDNRC Newsletter

About NDNRC

The National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative (NDNRC) launched in 2013 with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This initiative provides cross-disability information and support to Navigators and other enrollment specialists to ensure people with disabilities receive accurate information when choosing the right insurance plan on the Health Insurance Marketplace. People with disabilities who need coverage could have multiple insurance options including state-based Medicaid programs, Medicaid buy-in, Medicaid expansion (in many states), and a marketplace for private insurance options. When navigating enrollment, people can face issues with eligibility determinations and changes in their qualified health plans. The resources made available through NDNRC are aimed at health insurance navigators and other enrollment assisters.

The NDNRC was founded through a group of national disability organizations representing unique cross-disability experiences. Along with AAHD, the other partner organizations were the  Association on University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD); Autism Speaks; The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation; the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF); Family Voices; the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI); the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS); The Arc and United Spinal Association.

Program Background

From 2013-2016, the NDNRC began building up a body of resources to support federal and local outreach related to disability community enrollment in the Marketplace. One piece of this work involved technical assistance, made available through resources on the NDNRC website, including the “Guide to Disability for Healthcare Insurance Marketplace Navigators” and multiple fact sheets. Communications were also developed to support community outreach through digital outreach and partner engagement. Through a Community Outreach Collaboratives (COC) initiative, local disability organizations were funded across the country to support outreach to local Navigators and enrollment assisters and the disability community, acting as a bridge between people with disabilities and those providing enrollment assistance. These collaboratives spanned all 10 HHS regions. Materials were developed to assist specific enrollment needs of different populations within the disability community. During this time, the NDNRC was supported with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In 2017, the American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) took responsibility for funding and supporting the NDNRC and received some financial support from the Consumer Assistance Coordination Hub at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). This involved regular updates to the NDNRC website and newsletter, to make sure enrollment assisters and people with disabilities were still receiving current and accurate information when selecting and enrolling in Marketplace plans. Additionally, the news on the NDNRC website was updated to reflect developments related to Medicaid and reforms being considered for the ACA marketplace. From 2017-2021, AAHD also presented a webinar annually as part of CBPP’s Health Reform Beyond the Basics webinar series. In 2022 and 2023, AAHD produced new topical fact sheets and in 2024, support received from CBPP allowed AAHD to update all the original NDNRC factsheets which we released from 2013-2016.

From 2017-2023, AAHD was part of a project led by Community Catalyst to educate individuals about enrolling in health insurance. This also included work on the importance of the Medicaid program and the eventual unwinding of the Medicaid continuous coverage requirement. Community Catalyst, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, served as the national coordinating organization for an effort to spread awareness about the open enrollment period as well as campaigns around special enrollment periods and health insurance literacy. During this time period, AAHD also provided funding to local disability organizations to help with outreach on health insurance and Medicaid enrollment to ensure that people with disabilities were receiving accurate information regarding their health coverage options.

Key Resources