House HHS Spending Bill Would Give Navigators The Boot

A draft House appropriations bill for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would defund the health insurance navigators program.

The House Appropriations Committee released its draft bill for HHS earlier this week. The draft bill would ban the use of any new discretionary funding to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Bloomberg reported.

The draft bill also prohibits funds for the navigators who help consumers enroll in health insurance through the ACA marketplace.

In addition, the HHS draft spending bill would gut funding from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for the health insurance exchanges. It prohibits the collection of user fees from qualified health plans that CMS uses to fund the health insurance exchanges.

The funding bill will be considered in subcommittee today. The legislation includes funding for programs within the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and other related agencies.

The bill would provide $3.5 billion for CMS administrative expenses, which is $219 million less than the agency receives this year and $137 million less than the president requested for next year.

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].

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Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected].