HEALTHCARE/OBAMACARE(ACA)/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Michigan Consumers for Health Care, a nonprofit group, has enrolled thousands of people in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and was honored last year as one of the nation’s top performers — a ‘super navigator’ that would serve as a mentor to enrollment counselors in other states.
So the group was stunned to learn from the Trump administration that its funds for assisting consumers ahead of the open enrollment period that begins Nov. 1 would be cut by 89 percent, to $129,900, from $1.2 million.
The administration had justified such reductions by saying that the groups were failing to meet their targets, and that the deepest cuts would be reserved for low-performing insurance counselors, known as navigators. But that does not appear to be so.
With the annual open enrollment weeks away, the federal spending cuts have begun to bite, and navigators around the country are racing to revise their plans to make do with less money. Navigators are supposed to provide year-round in-person assistance, helping consumers compare health plans, sign up for coverage and use it. They explain that consumers who receive health insurance subsidies must file income tax returns so the government can verify the amount allowed under the Affordable Care Act.”
-Robert Pear, “Trump’s Cuts to Health Law Enrollment Efforts Are Hitting Hard,” The New York Times online, Oct. 9, 2017