The Tennessee Primary Care Association and Seedco have been awarded navigator grants to do community outreach efforts about the health insurance marketplace, the exchange set up by the Affordable Care Act.
Seedco received $1.21 million to support roving navigators in Georgia and Tennessee. The navigators, who will receive about the same amount of training as a U.S. Census worker, will be given the task of explaining choices on the federal insurance exchange to Tennessee’s uninsured. Seedco, established in 1987, is a national organization that works to help low-income people gain economic prosperity.
The Tennessee Primary Care Association, the membership organization for community health centers and faith-based clinics in the state, received $781,265. The Nashville-based organization plans to hire eight people to do the work.
The outreach mission requires contacting people who might otherwise miss out on health coverage – people who live in remote, rural areas or who may be just as disconnected living in urban apartments. These federal contract workers will have to do the balancing act of explaining what’s offered on the exchange without expressly telling people which policy to choose.
A total of $67 million in navigator grants was awarded to more than 100 organizations throughout the country. The grants were awarded in states that have not set up their own exchanges.
The navigator workers will start 20 hours of training before they start doing the community outreach.
Consumers can get more information by visiting the Health Insurance Marketplace atwww.healthcare.gov or dialing 1-800-318-2596.
Contact Tom Wilemon at twilemon@tennessean.com or 615-726-5961.