The Trump administration has distributed $10 million in grants to 39 organizations that help people enroll in Obamacare, a drop from the 90 organizations that received the awards last year when funding was nearly three times as high.
The Trump administration slashed the budget for navigators from $100 million during the final open enrollment of former President Barack Obama’s term to $36 million, and slashed it even further to $10 million this year. Democrats have called the move another instance of “sabotage” against the healthcare law, but the Trump administration said navigators accounted for only 1 percent of enrollment.
[Also read: Trump administration won’t increase ad funding for Obamacare]
The navigators are groups of nonprofit organizations that help people enroll in health insurance coverage through the exchanges, which were set up under Obamacare. The grantees announced Wednesday include a Planned Parenthood and a United Way affiliate, and a few universities.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said that the need for the navigators has diminished because Americans are more familiar with Obamacare’s insurance exchanges. They are encouraging navigators to also let unsubsidized consumers know they can buy less expensive plans that fall outside Obamacare.
These plans do not offer the same range of protection as Obamacare, excluding coverage for certain types of care and permitted to turn away people with pre-existing conditions such as cancer or diabetes.
[Related: Susan Collins doesn’t believe GOP pre-existing conditions bill goes far enough]
CMS under the Trump administration also sets up partnerships with agents and brokers in the private sector.
“We are committed to making sure that consumers have a positive experience,” CMS administrator Seema Verma said in a statement. “The grants announced today mark a new direction for the Navigator program aimed at providing a more cost-effective approach that takes better advantage of volunteers and other community partners.”
The exchange the federal government runs is known as healthcare.gov, and operates in 34 states. Other states run their own and also hire navigators or spend money on advertising.
Navigators have previously said that their duties go well beyond just signing people up for Obamacare. They include answering basic questions from residents about how health insurance works to helping a customer find out if an Obamacare plan covers their doctors.
