Enrollment Videos
Texas State of Enrollment 2025
Our latest free two-day virtual conference with webinars on the latest on outreach and enrollment in Texas health care and benefit programs. Watch the full playlist on YouTube.
Federal Budget Cuts and Policy Changes: Effects on Texas Enrollment and Utilization of the Marketplace (Sept. 30)
This session will provide an in-depth overview of recent federal changes of the budget reconciliation bill and policy rules that impact the Marketplace. Participants will gain a clear understanding of key updates and timeline related to subsidies, eligibility, and other challenges that individuals may experience in the coming open enrollment period and beyond. The session will also provide an overview of federal policy changes to the eligibility of “qualified immigrant” categories and the impact on their access to Marketplace coverage.
SEP Deep Dive: Best Practices & Communication With Care (Sept. 30)
Enrollment assisters should expect challenges and more hurdles for individuals seeking a special enrollment period. This session will provide an overview of changes to Marketplace special enrollment periods; a refresher on existing SEPs; new restrictions/requirements; and best practices on completing a successful SEP application. Finally, the session will also cover valuable tips and strategies for assister self-care as well as “communication with care” and empathy for individuals losing coverage.
State Legislative Overview & Policy Changes: Effects on Texas Enrollment and Utilization for HHS and Marketplace Programs (Sept. 30)
Changes to state-based programs and policies affecting Marketplace, Medicaid, CHIP, and SNAP enrollees are many and complicated for the upcoming 2026 plan year and moving forward. This session will provide an overview of new state policies becoming effective September 1, 2025; preview the next two years of anticpated changes to Medicaid; and provide practical supports for assisters to help prepare community members for scheduled and anticipated program and policy shifts.
Health Care Options for the Uninsured: What Is Available & Who Is Eligible?(Sept. 30)
Texas will experience an increase in uninsured individuals as a result of recent federal policy changes. This session will provide a review of other options for health care services that may be available in some communities, including community health centers and charitable clinics. The session will also provide a deeper dive into the impact of federal changes to Texas immigrant families no longer eligible for coverage and other helpful resources.
Consumer Education and Materials: Assister Resources Folder (Oct. 1)
Funding cuts across sectors and across states have required the Texas assister community to modify budgets and lay off staff. This panel preserves the knowledge and committments of those amazing community health educators and leaders and shares their expertise with assisters now and for years to come. An archive of assister resources will be important for supporting community members with enrollment in all kinds of healthcare and food access programs. This session will share no-cost, editable flyers, instruction pages, and guides for staff and community members, some of whom will need to enroll themselves for the first time as assisters save appointments for patients and clients with high medical needs or complex applications.
Community Connection: Conversations with Assisters in your Area! (Oct. 1)
For our closing session, participants will join regional breakout rooms designed to foster connection, collaboration, and practical takeaways. Each room will be guided by a facilitator and focused on your questions, ideas, and challenges that you are experiencing as an enrollment assisters. With a “meet your neighbor” vibe, participants will self-select their region, engage in interactive conversations, and leave with new relationships, resources, and next steps tailored to their community.
Texas State of Enrollment 2024
Texas Health Programs and Eligibility & Enrollment Scenarios (Sept. 24)
Federal Policy & Program Updates (Sept. 24)
Texas Policy & Program Updates (Sept. 24)
As the laws that determine who can enroll in Texas programs and what kinds of health care and food access those programs can provide change, people across professions—from Community Health Workers to benefits counselors to policy analysts and more—can learn from this session how those changing laws affect the day-to-day health care and food access for all Texans. The panel will highlight key policy changes and describe how those changes will affect the outreach, health education, and applications strategies assisters use to help community members get and stay enrolled and use their health plans to the utmost.
ACA Marketplace Basics: Tips & Tricks for Texas Assisters (Sept. 24)
An experienced health programs Navigator will walk panel attendees through the Marketplace health insurance application at HealthCare.gov. The application can be tricky, and this session will provide application best practices and tips for assisters helping community members fill out the application accurately—so it reflects their household and income; choose a health plan based on their real needs; and maintain their plan for good coverage around the year.
Immigrant Families: Eligibility, Enrollment, & Utilization (Sept. 25)
This session will provide a review of the different types of qualified immigrants and the benefits each group is eligible to apply for, including the newest eligible DACA group. Participants will also hear about common eligibility determination errors and work-arounds to resolve them. Finally, participants will also learn to identify programs and other resources for people without current immigration statuses and how assisters can share those resources within their community.
Assister Workforce Roundtable: Challenges & Successes (Sept. 25)
Focusing on the common experiences of health programs application assisters (for both HealthCare.gov and YourTexasBenefits.com programs) around Texas, this panel will open up conversation among the assister community to share challenges and best practices for solving problems that assister organizations share no matter where they are in this huge state or which people are in their priority community groups. I’m hopeful that the conversation the begins here will reveal some practical things that conference organizers (Every Texan, Texas Association of Community Health Centers, and Young Invincibles) can do and some topics we can revisit in our monthly Get Covered Texas calls to continuously improve health outcomes for vulnerable Texans by improving tools and conditions for assisters.
Immigrant Access Under ACA, CHIP, & Medicaid Webinar
October 2023
Participants heard latest updates on the issues and policies affecting our work to enroll immigrants in health care. Speakers reviewed Federal and Texas issues, and provided a special focus on immigrants and mixed-immigration status families.
Speakers:
Anne Dunkelberg | Every Texan
Texas State of Enrollment 2023
Latest Updates on HealthCare.Gov and Open Enrollment (Oct. 10)
Marketplace Open Enrollment is just around the corner! This session will provide the latest Marketplace updates and what you can expect this year. The session will also provide an explanation of the Federal Poverty Level chart and explain why for 8 months out of the year, Marketplace uses an FPL chart that is different from one used for Medicaid and CHIP. Also participants should be aware of some fraudulent behavior and what to do to report abuse if you encounter it with your clients.
Speakers:
Mina Schultz – Young Invincibles
Anthony Lechuga — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Sonia Lara — Texas Association of Community Health Centers
What’s New with Texas Medicaid, SNAP, and Healthy Texas Women (Oct. 10)
Ch-ch-ch-changes in Texas! During this session you’ll hear from experts on Texas health care and food programs about what changes have already taken place, what is on the horizon, and how those changes will impact your client’s access to health care and food programs like Medicaid, SNAP, Summer EBT, and Healthy Texas Women.
Speakers:
Rachel Cooper — Every Texan
Diana Forester — Texans Care For Children
Kristen Lenau — Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition
Texas Medicaid Unwinding: Challenges and Successes (Oct. 11)
During “unwinding” 6 million Texans will go through Medicaid renewal, some for the first time. Enrollment assisters play a critical role, helping Texans understand and take the steps needed to maintain Medicaid or transition to CHIP, the Marketplace, or job-based health insurance. We’ve learned a lot since unwinding started in April. In this session, we’ll get the latest updates from HHSC, get a snapshot of outcomes in Texas, and hear best practices from Texas enrollment assisters.
Speakers:
Carina Sturgeon — La Esperanza Clinic
Michelle Alletto — Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Ana Rangel — Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinic
Stacey Pogue — Every Texan
Step-By-Step Walkthrough of Your Texas Benefits (Oct. 11)
Your Texas Benefits is the portal for Texans to enroll in SNAP, Medicaid, CHIP, TANF, and other state programs. Learn from the experts the best practices for assisting consumers in enrolling for state benefit programs with a step-by-step walkthrough of the online application.
Speakers:
Leyda Valdez — North Texas Food Bank
Amy P. Cuellar — Feeding Texas
Immigrant Access and Eligibility (Oct. 12)
This session will provide an overview of the DACA proposed federal rule. Also, a review of public benefits available to eligible immigrant families will be provided as well as work arounds for families who are erroneously denied. Participants will also understand the public charge resources available through the Seguro Texas campaign, which was created to “thaw” the public charge chilling effect to educate mixed-status families about their rights to access public benefits.
Speakers:
Esther Reyes — Children’s Defense Fund Texas
Yu Gu — Light and Salt Association
Anne Dunkelberg — Every Texan
Martha Sanchez — Young Invincibles
The Power of Storytelling (Oct. 12)
Storytelling is a powerful tool used to inspire, persuade, and mobilize individuals to support a cause or a change. Learning how to tell stories to influence policies that affect your mission and your beneficiaries require several importance best practices. During this session, participants will learn the power of telling stories to bring awareness to individuals insured and uninsured, plus the importance of their voices. This session will present outreach ideas and the importance of messaging for reaching policy makers, funders, and the masses.
Speakers:
Amber Ayala — Children’s Defense Fund Texas
Aurora Harris — Young Invincibles