InsuranceNewsNet July 12, 2018
The Trump administration took another punch at the
Affordable Care Act by slashing funding for the navigator program that provides
in-person assistance to help people enroll in health insurance coverage.
The administration cut funds for grants to the navigator
program by more than $25 million --- from $36.8 million in 2018 to $10 million
for 2019. This marks the second year of funding cuts for navigators.
Last year saw a 42 percent decrease in funding for
navigators - $36.8 million in funding for 2018 as opposed to $6.2.5 million for
2017 that had been budgeted under the Obama administration the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
said it will expand the use of private sector agents and brokers to help
consumers enroll in coverage.
The next open enrollment season under the ACA begins Nov.
1.
In announcing the funding cut, the administration argued
that because the health care law has been around longer, there is less of a
need for navigators to help people enroll in coverage.
“As the exchange has grown in visibility and become more
familiar to Americans seeking health insurance, the need for federally funded
navigators has diminished,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said
in a statement.
CMS also said that navigators enrolled only about 1
percent of those who signed up for coverage for 2018 in the 34 states that use
the federal health insurance exchange.
Meanwhile, private sector agents and brokers played a
greater role in helping people obtain coverage for the current year, CMS said.
They assisted 42 percent of those who obtained coverage on the federal
exchange, the agency reported.
Agents and brokers also were more cost-effective than
navigators when helping enroll consumers in coverage, CMS reported. Private
sector agents and brokers cost the federal exchange only $2.40 per enrollee to
provide training and technical assistance.
CMS announced it will continue to expand the use of agents
and brokers, including allowing individuals to enroll online and
in-person with agents and brokers as well as enrolling directly with health
insurers.
“It’s time for the navigator program to evolve, which is
why we are announcing a new direction for the program," CMS administrator
Seema Verna said in a news release. "This decision reflects CMS’
commitment to put federal dollars for the federally-facilitated exchanges to
their most cost effective use in order to better support consumers through the
enrollment process.”
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