ObamaCare signup groups to get funding word this week

Groups that help people sign up for ObamaCare are expected to learn this week how much money they’ll receive from the federal government after the Trump administration slashed the total grant money available, according to an email obtained by The Hill.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sent the groups, known as navigators, an email Monday afternoon, saying the notice of their grant award is “scheduled to be made available this week.”

{mosads}Late last month, the Trump administration announced it was cutting money for navigators, which also help with ObamaCare education and outreach.

The groups learned their three-year federal grants would be cut 41 percent this year, from a total of $62.5 million to $36.8 million.

The amount the navigator groups receive will now be based on how well they met their enrollment goals last year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

HHS and CMS did not immediately respond for comment.

To navigators, the news of the cuts was unexpected.

Their grants have already run out, and they expected to receive fairly level funding for this year at the beginning of September. The uncertainty over how much money they would receive led some groups to downsize their staff last week.

Navigators also expressed concerns that cuts to the program would lower enrollment in the ObamaCare exchanges ahead of open enrollment starting Nov. 1.

HHS has defended the cuts, calling the navigator program “ineffective.”

“Judging effectiveness by the amount of money spent and not the results achieved is irresponsible and unhelpful to the American people,” HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said in a statement emailed to reporters after last month’s funding announcement.