2015 Survey of Health Insurance Marketplace Assister Programs and Brokers
Executive Summary
Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, “Navigator Grant Recipients for States with Federally-facilitated or State Partnership Marketplace, ” available at http://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Health-Insurance-Marketplaces/Downloads/Navigator-Grantee-Summaries-UPDATED-05-05-15.pdf.
The 14 SBM states in year two were California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The 4 consumer assistance FPM states were Delaware, Illinois, New Hampshire and West Virginia. Arkansas has been approved for status as a consumer assistance FPM in year one, but ceased providing state support for consumer assistance in year two and so was included with FFM states for this analysis.
Information on funding for In-person Assisters and Navigators provided by state-based marketplaces collected by KFF staff through information available on state websites and through conversations with state officials.
During the second Open Enrollment period, FEAPs operated in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
Twelve CAP programs received limited supplemental grants for FY 2015: California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and Vermont.
Section 1: Characteristics of Assister Programs
In year one, California provided for a type of Assister Program called Certified Enrollment Counselors (CECs) that were paid by the Marketplace on a per-enrollment basis. Subsequently, federal regulations prohibited Marketplaces from funding Navigators on a per-enrollment basis. For year two, California established a new Navigator Program, funded through Marketplace grants. The CEC program continues in California, though not all CECs receive Marketplace reimbursement. During the first two years, there were between 600 and 700 CEC Programs in California. During the first year of this survey, all CECs were classified as Navigator/In-Person Assister Programs. During the second year of this survey, CECs were included in the CAC classification. This change in classification accounts for roughly a 10 percentage point change, from year 1 to year 2, in the proportion of total Assister Programs that are CACs.
Section 2: How Many Assisters Are There and How Many People Did They Help?
Estimates were derived by extrapolating survey responses (on how many staff worked for Assister Programs and hope many people were helped) to data on the number of Assister Programs nationwide collected from the Marketplaces.