IDPH announces it will be
accepting applications for year 2 of Get Covered
Illinois Navigator Program Following highly successful
first year of ACA Enrollment, Illinois is gearing up to
again assist health care consumers learn about subsidies
and compare options
[July 10, 2014]CHICAGO – The Illinois
Department of Public Health (IDPH) today announced that
it will be accepting applications through August 1 from
community organizations and other qualified entities
that wish to participate in the second year of Get
Covered Illinois’ (GCI) In-Person Counselor (IPC)
Program, the outreach and education arm for the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Illinois.
“Get Covered Illinois carried out a very comprehensive and
successful statewide outreach and education effort in the first year
of ACA enrollment thanks in large part to the vibrant network of
grantee organizations that we established across the state,” said
IDPH Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck. “As we put together the team for
the second year, we want to make sure that it remains just as strong
and is able to reach consumers in every corner of the state.”
The grant program is managed by IDPH in conjunction with GCI, which
operates the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace through a
partnership with the Federal government. Applications will be
competitively scored based on quality, organizational capacity, and
proposed scope of work. Special consideration will be given to
ensure proper statewide distribution of funding based on population
as well as regional and cultural needs.
“Get Covered Illinois is proud of the job our team did in the first
year of ACA enrollment when we exceeded our federally established
enrollment goals for the Marketplace by more than 50 percent,” GCI
Executive Director Jennifer Koehler said. “In year two, we are
looking to build on this success. We will be encouraging our granted
partners to put more of an emphasis on direct community outreach
activities, because we know that groups that had an active and
visible presence in the field achieved good results in the first
enrollment period.”
GCI recently completed a highly successful initial enrollment period
in which federal authorities announced 217,000 people enrolled in a
plan through the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace. This initial
six-month enrollment period exceeded the federal goal of 143,000
Marketplace enrollees by 52 percent, putting Illinois among the top
tier of states.
Coupled with enrollment of approximately 369,000 people to date in
Medicaid under the ACA, more than 586,000 Illinois residents have
enrolled in health care as a result of the state’s enrollment
efforts.
GCI’s statewide network of 250 grantee organizations and 1,200
trained Navigators has remained in place since the end of the first
enrollment period and is now focused on targeted outreach to help
those who gained coverage to stay covered and use their benefits to
stay healthy. Navigators are also providing enrollment assistance to
those who qualify for a Special Enrollment Period as a result of a
change in life circumstances (such as change in marital or job
status) and for Medicaid, which has no fixed enrollment period.
Enrollment for 2015, year two of the Marketplace, begins Nov. 15 and
will run through Feb. 15.
