Two Kansas organizations to receive more than $710,000 in Affordable Care Act grants

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded more than $710,000 in federal grants to two Kansas organizations to fund navigators for the Affordable Care Act.

The job of navigators, who are employed through health care organizations across the country and subsidized by the government, is to help people enroll in the new online marketplace for health insurance that was created through the Affordable Care Act.

Ascension Health, which acquired Via Christi Health in 2013, has been awarded $241,749.

The Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved has been awarded $468,396. It is the lead agency for a consortium of health care organizations throughout the state.

Nationwide, the federal government awarded more than $60 million in navigator grants to 90 organizations.

Navigators have to have about 20 hours of online training through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and have to pass tests to become certified.

Unlike a typical insurance broker, navigators are not supposed to recommend one plan over another – just help people learn about each plan.

Plans that are offered on the marketplace vary from state to state and are offered by private health insurance companies.

Open enrollment for marketplace health insurance plans will begin November 15. Last year, more than 8 million Americans signed up for coverage on the marketplace.

For more information on enrollment, visit www.HealthCare.gov.

This story was originally published September 10, 2014 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Two Kansas organizations to receive more than $710,000 in Affordable Care Act grants."