Hospital Association Employed Vets to Assist with ACA Enrollment
PRINCETON – The New Jersey Hospital Association was presented a Freedom Award from the New Jersey Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for its support of veterans and service members through its Certified Application Counselor (CAC) program.
The award was presented June 4 at the 7th Annual Freedom Award Nominee and Pro Patria Award Luncheon at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center in Holmdel.
In 2013, NJHA hired 25 veterans to help New Jersey residents enroll for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The effort was funded in part by a $1.8 million grant from New Jersey Health Initiatives, a local funding arm of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
NJHA provided training and helped the employees achieve federal certification to guide consumers through the insurance application process. Once certified, the veterans were deployed in hospitals and community sites across the state to answer consumer questions and offer enrollment assistance. The CACs connected with more than 18,000 consumers and have helped about 4,000 individuals and families complete the application process for insurance coverage.
NJHA was nominated by Fred Karuki, one of the CACs hired by NJHA. Karuki served as an Air Force Reservist and was briefly called into active duty during the course of the project.
“Veterans and service members offer employers a unique set of skills, discipline and leadership abilities developed during their years in the military,” said Aline Holmes, director of the NJHA Institute for Quality and Patient Safety and herself a veteran who served in the U.S. Navy Nursing Corps. “We’re honored to receive this recognition, but the true honor was to have these wonderful men and women be part of the NJHA team.”
ESGR, a Department of Defense office, seeks to foster a culture in which all employers support and value the employment and military service of members of the National Guard and Reserve in the United States. ESGR facilitates and promotes a cooperative culture of employer support for National Guard and Reserve service by developing and advocating mutually beneficial initiatives, recognizing outstanding employer support and increasing awareness of applicable laws and policies.
