Last updated on November 1, 2019
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) last week launched a statewide education and outreach campaign aimed at decreasing the number of uninsured and underinsured Texans. Be Covered is a community-based education effort to help people understand the benefits of insurance, identify their options and empower them to make informed, sound health care decisions for themselves and their families.
“About five million people are uninsured in our state, yet more than 60 percent qualify for financial assistance [1],” said Dan McCoy, president of BCBSTX. “Through Be Covered, we have an opportunity to educate and increase access to coverage options, regardless of whether or not it’s with our health plan, so everyone in our communities can get the peace of mind that comes with having quality, affordable health care.”
The Be Covered campaign works with diverse and trusted community partners, such as civic associations, schools, places of worship and community leaders, to provide educational materials and other bilingual resources to help uninsured communities navigate the process of enrollment.
As part of the campaign, BCBSTX will also be holding a health and wellness fair to engage community members about health insurance plans and information on enrollment. The event will take place on Saturday, November 16 at the Fireside Recreation Center (8601 Fireside Drive) in Dallas. The event will feature a range of health screenings, a Thanksgiving turkey giveaway to the first 400 families, as well as bags of produce and other healthy foods attendees can take home with them. Additionally, attendees will be provided with pedometers as part of community-wide step challenge.
In partnership with Sanitas Medical Centers, BCBSTX will be holding open enrollment events at the clinics in the Dallas and Houston area featuring support with enrollment in a retail or commercial health plan, free wellness checks, healthy food giveaways and other community resources. Earlier this year, Sanitas and BCBSTX announced a collaboration to open the medical centers to serve as one-stop shops for BCBSTX members by delivering primary care, urgent care, lab and diagnostic imaging services, care coordination, and wellness and disease management programs in one place.
Along with hosting community events throughout the open enrollment period, BCBSTX launched BeCovered.orgexternal link, which provides a wide range of information about health insurance, wellness and how to enroll. The site features user-friendly, bilingual content, such as fact sheets and toolkits to help consumers understand their insurance options and what they need to do to prepare for the next enrollment period.
To receive alerts from the Be Covered campaign, text 33633 with the word BECOVERED for English updates or UNIR for Spanish updates.*
*Message and data rates may apply.
[1] U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2018
