A division of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a Jonesboro nonprofit will share in more than $930,000 in federal funding to help people evaluate their options and sign up for coverage during the enrollment period that starts Nov. 15 for plans on Arkansas' insurance exchange, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday.
The grants are part of $60 million awarded to groups across the country to hire "navigators" trained to offer one-on-one help enrolling in coverage made available under the 2010 health care overhaul law, according to a department news release.
In Arkansas, $749,370 will go to the University of Arkansas' Partners for Inclusive Communities, which researches issues faced bydisabled people, and $183,286 will go to the Jonesboro-based Enroll the Ridge.
Partners for Inclusive Communities Director David Deere said his group will employ about 20 navigators, either directly or through contracts with other groups.
The group will contract with the Jonesboro-based Legal Aid of Arkansas, the Daughters of Charity Services of Arkansas; which operates health clinics in Dumas and Gould; and the Greater Delta Alliance for Health, a coalition of nine hospitals in southeast Arkansas.
Enroll the Ridge, a nonprofit formed in May, will use its grant to pay the salaries of four navigators, including two employed by Wrightsville-based Future Builders, Miles said. The grant money also will fund half the salary of a Future Builders navigator coordinator.
Enroll the Ridge is also using private donations to fund the salaries of about nine other outreach workers, including some part-time workers.
Established under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, exchanges allow consumers to shop for coverage and apply for subsidies to help pay for it.
In Arkansas, more than 211,000 people are covered by plans on the exchange, including more than 172,000 whose premiums are paid by the state Medicaid program under the so-called private option.
During the health care law's initial open enrollment period, from Oct. 1-March 31, the state Insurance Department used federal funding to hire more than 500 outreach workers who provided one-on-one help with enrollment.
The contracts for the workers ended June 30. Under state legislation that took effect July 1, authorizing continued funding for the private option, the Insurance Department and state departments of Human Services and Health are not allowed to promote enrollment in the exchange.
"We really anticipate there will be a lot of people who need assistance," Deere said.
Metro on 09/09/2014