Many groups tasked with Obamacare sign-ups are planning to cut services and layoff staff due to major federal funding cuts, a new survey found.
The Trump administration cut federal funding to the navigators by 41 percent for 2018 and the administration will send out grants based on the number of people a navigator signed up last open enrollment. Navigators say in a survey from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation the formula doesn’t align with key duties of navigators such as helping people sign up for Medicaid.
Democrats and other critics argued the cuts, coupled with a 90 percent cut to ad funding, are part of a strategy from the Trump administration to sabotage Obamacare. The administration has countered navigators haven’t signed up enough people for the law’s exchanges.
Kaiser found 49 percent of the navigators who responded to the survey had their 2018 funding reduced by more than half compared to 2017, with 33 percent getting less than half and 18 percent got level funding or an increase.
The Trump administration cut funding from $62 million sent out in 2016 to roughly $36 million, a 41 percent cut, according to Kaiser. The group said it used funding totals from the Obamacare advocacy group Get America Covered and not from the Trump administration.
Of the 94 navigator programs, 51 percent responded to Kaiser’s survey.
Kaiser found three navigators will stop work altogether in 2018 due to the funding cuts and the timing of the funding reductions.
Nearly all navigators, 81 percent, said they would likely reduce outreach or public education on Obamacare. Another 89 percent said they would likely cut spending on ads and have to lay off staff, with some expected to cut staff by 75 percent.
“Some programs expect to close following open enrollment, others will cut back to a skeletal staff,” the Kaiser report said. “As a result, consumers who need assistance at tax time, or help with special enrollment or post-enrollment problems during the year, may have difficulty finding it.”
Another 57 percent of programs will also limit the amount of time staff can spend on complex cases. These include helping consumers like the self-employed estimate their income for the coming year in order to qualify for subsidies.
Navigators also cited confusion over what the Trump administration measured to determine their funding.
For instance, navigators have other metrics they must meet beyond just signing up people for Obamacare. These include one-on-one consumer assistance, help for people who are eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program and outreach and public education.
Of the navigators who responded, most met or exceeded these goals, meaning they were not considered as part of the funding formula. In addition, 49 percent of navigators that responded said they got no rationale at all in their funding notice and another 40 percent say it was unclear.
Several navigator groups have said the funding formula doesn’t represent the full extent of their mandated duties under the Affordable Care Act. They said they must help people not only sign up for Obamacare, but also help them pick plans and other services.
But the administration has noted the federal funding has gone to programs that have signed up very few people in Obamacare, and the cuts are to ensure proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
Obamacare advocacy groups and Democrats counter that the cuts are part of a larger strategy by the Trump administration to sabotage the law. They also point to shortening open enrollment by half for 2018 and multiple planned outages for healthcare.gov, which is used by 39 states and the District of Columbia to sign up for Obamacare plans.
