For Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas the open enrollment period is one of the most wonderful times of the year. It’s the opportunity to not only showcase the multiple health plan options they offer, some with a $0 co-pay with qualifying subsidies, but it’s also a time to shine a light on the health care provider’s wide-spread efforts to make available the health benefits and resources Texans need the most.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is so much more than just a health insurer. Their assistance doesn’t end when they sign up eligible resident with the right plan for their family. Over the course of the year, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas also awards grants to various organizations across the State of Texas that support families, especially the healthcare needs of underserved communities.

One such program is its Healthy Kids, Healthy Families initiative, which each year provides support to local nonprofit organizations across the Lone Star State.

“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is committed to expanding access to quality, cost-effective health care,” said Jim Springfield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas president. “We are proud to offer affordable, quality health plan options in every zip code in Texas’ 254 counties, just as we have since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace first opened.

The Children’s Rehabilitation Institute TeletonUSA (CRIT) is one of many organizations supported by a Healthy Kids, Healthy Families grant.

CRIT is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that offers comprehensive rehabilitation services for children with neurological, muscular, and skeletal disabilities.

Take the case of 71-year-old Marcela and her nine-year-old great-granddaughter, whom she has custody of and brought to get treatments at CRIT for a disability she was born with that didn’t allow the right side of her body to develop correctly. She requires therapy to learn how to walk and talk in addition to occupational and physical therapy, said her bisabuela (great-grandmother).

CRIT was an organization the grandmother volunteered for when she was in Mexico. “Who would have thought one day my family and I would be in need of their services.”

Having been with CRIT in San Antonio for about five years and watching her great-granddaughter go through a difficult but necessary surgery, Marcela said she’s noticed significant improvements and seen first-hand the major benefits CRIT provides to its patients.

Every day Marcela sees improvements in her great-granddaughter’s speech with the aid of her communication device provided to them by CRIT. She’s also seeing physical improvements she’s made through occupational therapy and being able to grab things and move them around as she gains strength in her legs.

The staff and doctors at CRIT have been a tremendous support to the family, said the grandmother. “It is an unconditional support that they give to everyone, and I can’t thank them enough. CRIT is a place of hope, and children and their families come to CRIT with that hope as well.”

El Paso Children’s Hospital is a long-standing organization that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has supported since 2017.

For five years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas has awarded grants to El Paso Children’s Hospital through its Healthy Kids, Healthy Families initiative that has added groundbreaking support in its expansion of diabetes programs offered to patients. A partnership resulting in the care and impact of close to 2,250 children.

Crystal Tapia’s 10-year-old daughter Allyson was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. One afternoon, Allyson began to feel unwell. Her mother took her to the hospital, unaware that the health episode she was suffering from was due to her elevated blood glucose level of 600. “I was just thinking she was sick; she had the flu. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on,” said Tapia. “I saw some symptoms a week prior but I didn’t connect the dots that it could have been type 1 diabetes.”

They spent four days in the ICU at El Paso Children’s Hospital, and from day one, Tapia said there was not one bad experience while Allyson was in their care. “As you can imagine, I had no idea what to do, what’s next, what I have to do, what she has to do, what I have to look out for, and they helped us through every single step,” Tapia said. She was grateful to all the nurses and doctors, especially a nurse named - Eduvina Mota, for walking her through the process, holding her hand, providing books and information to guide her.

According to the American Diabetes Association, “The majority of people have type 2 diabetes, but an important minority have type 1 diabetes (~5%),” like Allyson. “Contrary to popular belief, type 1 diabetes is not a childhood disease. It occurs at every age, in people of every race, and of every shape and size.”

Once a family is sent home, the care doesn’t stop. “We give the family time to let them work on everything we talked about in the hospital to let it set in,” Mota said. The hospital remains a resource once they go home.

The open enrollment period for the Marketplace ends Jan. 15, 2023. For coverage that begins Jan. 1, 2023, you must enroll by Dec. 15, 2022. Some changes to note for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas in 2023 include:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is expanding the MyBlue HMO℠ Plan, a high-performance, lower-cost option, into six additional counties

· The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) this year means more people will again qualify for subsidies to help pay for their health insurance.

· Additionally for 2023, according to the Biden Administration, it’s estimated that up to 1 million people will become newly eligible for tax credits to help pay for their ACA plans.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas knows how important it is to choose the right health plan for your family and offers multiple resources to help families make the best choice. Virtual open enrollment seminars will also be held across Texas with Think Blue representatives who can provide guidance in English and Spanish. For more information you can also call 866-427-7497, Monday–Friday: 8 a.m.–5p.m. CT.

“We are committed to ensuring that every Texan has access to affordable healthcare coverage throughout their healthcare journey,” said Springfield.