Health Connector Navigator Grant Opportunity for Community Based Organizations
04/03/13
The Connector has released a notice of grant opportunities for "Navigators" to assist people in getting enrolled in health care coverage in 2014. This is related to federal health health reform. Navigators will be expected to do outreach events to get the word out about coverage & to help people apply for & enroll in benefits. This will affect people now in programs like Commonwealth Care and the Medical Security Program who will be expected to transition to private insurance with tax credits through the Connector and people who are currently not eligible for existing coverage but will be eligible for either MassHealth or the private insurance with tax credits.
Applications are due April 30. We understand that only $1 million in total is available for these grants.
It would be great if some community organizations could get additional resources to do this work in your service area, particularly in the first year of implementation. It is an opportunity to ensure existing SNAP households you currently work get health care, as well as assist lower income households with joint applications for both health care and SNAP (although the focus of this grant is health care coverage, but the information collected from clients is useful for both programs).
The Notice is attached & more info is on the state's procurement website. https://www.commbuys.com/bso/ [Under Solicitations tab, and Open Solicitations, search for Keyword: RFR-03292013 ]
About 75,000 people with income 134 - 300% FPL and about 30,000 non-Medicaid eligible immigrants with income 0 - 300% FPL will be moving from Comm. Care to the Exchange in 2014. This transition population seems to be the main focus of the grants.
For a report on reaching the remaining uninsured in Mass. including their location & demographics , see https://bluecrossmafoundation.org/publication/reaching-remaining-uninsured-massachusetts-challenges-and-opportunities