1. EVENT M EM ORANDUM
TO: SUSANSUMRELL
FROM: JING XU
SUBJECT: NAVIGATING THE HEALTH INSURANCE LANDSCAPE: WHAT’S NEXT FOR
NAVIGATORS, IN-PERSON ASSISTERS AND BROKERS?
DATE: AUGUST 5, 2014
CC: ROGER SCHWARTZ
Today’s briefing, hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform, is focused on the topics of
health coverage and assistance. Questions for today’s briefing include: What has been the effect of
navigator and other in-person assistance programs? Has the role of brokers changed? What are some
of the key policy and financing questions for in-person assistance programs looking forward? Are the
privacy concerns of citizens being addressed by proper and effective confidentiality policies? A panel
of experts addresses these questions: Karen Pollitz, Lisa Stein, Jodi Ray, Jessica Waltman, Ed
Howard and Jennifer Tolbert. The event is hosted at Senate Dirksen Office Building, Room G-50,
broadcasted live on C-SPAN from 12:00PM to 1:30PM.
During today’s briefing, the FQHCs’ role (approximately 26%, equal to In-person assisters)
in helping patients to get covered is mentioned in the presentation of KFF’s survey on assistance in
Marketplace. Although there are no particular mentioning of the FQHC enrollment assistance, the
panelists put strong emphasis on diverse community partners and CACs, Navigator organizations.
Another important assister is the agents and brokers during the enrollment. Questions are raised
about how to better coordinate brokers and their knowledge about health coverage and the CACs’
grassroot outreach to maximize enrollment. All panelists agree that all assistance programs need to
work together and eliminate biased information for the consumers.
For us at the Regulatory Affairs, today’s briefing has no direct regulatory implications,
however, two important take-away points may draw our attentions as the second enrollment period
approaches: first, one panelist mentioned about the proposed Senate Bills S.2173 - CHOICE Act and
S.2175 - Enhancing Access for Agents and Brokers Act (by Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA]), which if
passed, they may impact our FQHCs’ relationship with the agents and brokers in the near future.
Second, more technical trainings are needed. All panelists agree that now is the time to train the
CACs, Navigators, about the upcoming enrollment period and knowledge about re-enrollment. It is
important for the FQHCs to attain up-to-date trainings on effective outreach in relation to access to
primary care services.