Past Programs | sellersdorsey

Collaborations

The Sellers Dorsey Foundation believes that solutions leading to the reduction and ultimate elimination of health disparities for the LGBT community will be found through collaboration and the development of unique and lasting partnerships.

Among the Foundation’s collaborations:

With the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation, in 2012 the Sellers Dorsey Foundation hosted its first meeting to encourage this collaboration and build partnerships. This meeting brought together leaders in LGBT health policy, academics, broadcast and social media, and LGBT cultural competency training. Our report to the Rockefeller Foundation can be found here.
The Sellers Dorsey Foundation provided policy expertise to a statewide LGBT equality organization, drafting the organization’s recommendations for LGBT inclusion in the State Plan on Aging, which is required by the Older Americans Act.
The Sellers Dorsey Foundation teamed up with representatives from the Human Rights Campaign, the Equality Federation, Pander and SAGE to produce and disseminate a webinar explaining new federal guidance on same-sex partners and Medicaid eligibility.

If you or your organization would like to collaborate with the Sellers Dorsey Foundation to improve the health for the LGBT community, please contact us.

Out2Enroll

Out2Enroll is a project dedicated to improving the health and lives of LGBT community members. A survey found that 78% of Americans are unaware of their coverage options under the Affordable Care Act, including the ability to shop for insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplaces, the premium subsidies to be offered to qualified individuals, and expanded eligibility for Medicaid coverage in various states.

Moreover, the same states that are home to many underserved LGBT individuals and their families are those where state governments are refusing to cooperate with the expansion of health insurance coverage under the health reform law. As such, the Out2Enroll effort is intended to serve as a critical link between these LGBT community members and the benefits and services that they may be eligible for – but unaware of – under the health reform law.

Out2Enroll is a collaborative effort among the Sellers Dorsey Foundation, the Center for American Progress, the Federal Agencies Project, and other national, state, and regional LGBT organizations. The Out2Enroll initiative is also being developed in consultation with the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The public launch of the Out2Enroll initiative took place on September 12, 2013 at the White House. The event, which was also live streamed over the internet, featured keynote remarks from Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a community organizations' best practices panel featuring longstanding LGBT State Exchanges Project partners, and the presentation of new research commissioned by the LGBT State Exchanges Project about the experiences, needs, and concerns of LGBT people in accessing health insurance coverage and health care.

The event provided an opportunity for over 200 community leaders and advocates from across the country to network with each other and to forge connections that will expand the capacity of LGBT and consumer health advocates to understand and effectively work on LGBT health issues.

The event at the White House coincided with the launch of www.out2enroll.org, a key communications vehicle for the campaign. Out2Enroll’s launch received positive press, including the Washington Post and Kaiser Health News.