HHS gives $67M to boost HIX education

Hospitals, universities, Indian tribes, patient advocacy groups and local food banks were among organizations awarded $67 million in federal grants in August to help people sign up for coverage in new online health insurance exchanges that open for enrollment Oct. 1.
Planned Parenthood, the United Way and the National Urban League are some of the best known organizations among the 105 awarded "navigator" grants in 34 states that will rely on the federal government to operate all or part of their exchanges. States setting up their own exchanges are getting substantially more money in a separate funding pool created by the Affordable Care Act.
The amount is more than had been expected for these states and comes on top of the $150 million the government granted in July to nearly 1,200 community health centers nationwide to hire navigators.
"Navigators will be among the many resources available to help consumers understand their coverage options," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.
Navigators will provide assistance on the phone and in person to help people understand the health law's new benefits, including evaluating health plans for sale on the exchanges. They have to balance explaining what's offered without expressly telling people which policy to choose.
Consumers will be directed to them from the healthcare.gov website as well as through national call centers. The organizations receiving grants will use staff as well as volunteers.
The grant total awarded was $13 million more than had been anticipated. In April, HHS said $54 million would be available. Federal officials said they took the $67 million from the Prevention and Public Health Fund established by the ACA, which started out with $15 billion but was cut by $6.5 billion last year as part of a deficit reduction package.
The largest navigator grants went largely to groups in states with the highest uninsured rates. Among the biggest grants were:
• $5.9 million, United Way of Metropolitan Tarrant County, Texas
• $4.2 million, University of South Florida in Tampa.
• $2.2 million, Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation in Atlanta
• $2.0 million, North Carolina Community Care Networks
• $2.0 million, Ohio Association of Foodbanks
• $1.3 million, Michigan Consumers for Healthcare
Planned Parenthood chapters in Montana, Iowa and New Hampshire received grants totaling about $654,000. Among hospitals getting awards are Ascension Health, the nation's largest Catholic hospital system, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Randolph Hospital in North Carolina and Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio.
Like some other components of Obamacare, the navigator grants are not without controversy. Critics see navigators as potential competitors to insurance brokers, and say they should be subject to more rigorous screening before they can work with consumers. All types of enrollment assisters - including navigators - are subject to federal criminal penalties for violations of privacy or fraud statutes, in addition to any relevant state penalties.
As of July at least 19 states with federal exchanges (including state-federal partnership exchanges) had passed or were considering legislation setting requirements for navigators, according to the Commonwealth Fund. Among the 14 that had passed laws were Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.