Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act navigators have reacted with shock and offense to federal lawmakers' request for information on how they plan to spend $67 million in federal grants, according to a Kaiser Health News report.
Last month, HHS awarded the grants to 105 state and federal insurance marketplace navigator organizations. The navigators will perform informational services for Americans who need assistance in shopping for and enrolling in plans this fall. Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce — led by chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and chairman emeritus Joe Barton (R-Texas) — sent a letter to grant recipients asking them to brief the committee on their participation in the new health insurance exchanges as navigators by Sept. 13.
The committee members also asked navigators to provide various documents by mid-September, such as a written description of the work they will perform using their federal grant. Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, told Kaiser she wonders if the lawmakers are trying to stop or slow down the navigator process, given that the organizations are already pressed for time, with just six weeks since receiving the grants to train and prepare outreach workers. The Ohio Association of Foodbanks received a $1.9 million grant.
The committee members' decision to get involved in the relationship between the federal government and the navigator groups is inappropriate, Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities in
As the launch date for the new exchanges nears, Republican leaders have raised concerns about potential endangerment of personal information through the exchanges. Last month, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told
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