Federal Funding For ACA ‘Navigators’ To Drop Dramatically In Georgia

In this 2014 photo, Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace navigator Leticia Chaw helps gather information for Jennifer Sanchez to re-enroll in a health insurance plan in Houston. Federal funding for insurance navigators nationwide will drop to $10 million for the 2019 open enrollment period, down from $36 million for 2018 and about $63 million the year before, federal health officials announced late Tuesday.

David J. Phillip / Associated Press file

The White House is again slashing funds for the “navigators’’ who help enroll people in the Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges.

The cuts will almost certainly reduce the in-person assistance provided to Georgians seeking an exchange health plan for next year.

Macon-based Community Health Works, which oversees a navigator program in the state, said Wednesday that the federal navigator funding for the upcoming year’s enrollment for Georgia will be $500,000 – about one-third of the 2018 exchange total. The cuts will especially affect enrollment of hard-to-reach populations, experts said.