Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS awarded $98.9 million in grant funding to help consumers navigate enrollment through the Marketplace, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Navigator organizations will focus on outreach to people who identify as racial and ethnic minorities, people in rural communities, the LGBTQ+ community, American Indians and Alaska Natives, refugee and immigrant communities, low-income families, pregnant women and new mothers, people with transportation or language barriers or lacking internet access, veterans, and small business owners. The Navigator funding can play a key role in addressing coverage gaps in rural areas. An HHS report shows that while the uninsured rate in rural areas has fallen in recent years, it continues to be about 2-3 percentage points higher than in urban areas over the 2018-209 period.
