New Administration Plans to Reinstate Cuts to Funding for ACA Outreach and Enrollment Assistance

By Rachel Swindle, Jalisa Clark, and Justin Giovannelli

One of the first actions by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under the Trump administration was to announce extreme cuts in funding for Navigators, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) grant program for organizations that provide outreach, education, and enrollment assistance activities.

The 90 percent reduction in program funding could not have come at a worse time. A proposed rule by HHS threatens to cause 2 million Americans to lose coverage, failure to extend the enhanced premium tax credits may increase net premiums 25 to 100 percent, and Congress is considering drastic cuts to Medicaid.  As barriers to coverage access continue to rise, the Navigator funding cuts will make it even more challenging for Americans in the 31 states using HealthCare.gov to enroll in affordable health care coverage. 

While devastating, this announcement is not unexpected. The funding cuts replicate reductions made during the first administration as a broader effort to weaken the ACA, and the harmful impacts are likely to repeat as well. 

In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Rachel Swindle, Jalisa Clark, and Justin Giovannelli dispute the rationale behind the funding cuts presented by the Trump administration and highlight the gravity of reducing the Navigator program and outreach and enrollment assistance. You can read the full post here.