Get Covered Illinois and IDPH Announce 10 Organizations Selected for Federal Grants in Year 3 of Get Covered Illinois Navigator Program

CHICAGO – Get Covered Illinois (GCI) and The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) have announced a list of 10 organizations that will receive almost $5 million in federal funding to participate in the third year of Get Covered Illinois’ In-Person Counselor (IPC) Program, the state-run outreach and education arm of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Illinois.

The selected organizations (found at the end of this release) will take part in an intensive training program leading up to the launch of the third enrollment period. Open enrollment begins November 1, 2015, and ends January 31, 2016. The federally funded program establishes a network of “Navigators” across the state whose job is to educate consumers about the financial assistance available under the ACA for those who qualify based on their income, and help them navigate through their healthcare options.

“As Get Covered Illinois enters its third open enrollment phase, a large part of its success is due in part to the robust network of grantees,” said Illinois Department of Insurance Acting Director Anne Melissa Dowling. “The grantee organizations will continue to carry out effective outreach and education efforts to provide support to the uninsured of Illinois. More than 150 full-time assisters will be available to help individuals choose coverage options that best fit their needs.”

The grantees were chosen through a competitive scoring process administered by IDPH. Each proposal was evaluated based on the ability to meet the requirements of the work, including organizational capacity, quality of the submission and scope of work. Regional and cultural needs were also considered to ensure proper statewide distribution of funding.

“We want to build on the success of the program we’ve seen during the last two years,” said IDPH Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D.  “By increasing the number of people who are insured, more people will have the opportunity to get routine check-ups and preventive care, which will improve the overall health of the state and decrease health care costs.” 

Coupled with enrollment of approximately 622,673 people to date in Medicaid under the ACA, more than 972,160 Illinois residents have received coverage as a result of the state’s enrollment efforts.

Navigators are currently available to provide enrollment assistance to those who have experienced a qualifying change-in-life circumstance (such as change in marital or job status) during our Special Enrollment Period and for Medicaid (which has no fixed enrollment period), until the Marketplace opens on Nov. 1.

For more information about the state’s implementation of the ACA, go to: www.GetCoveredIllinois.gov.

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List of Lead Grantees:

• Asian Health Coalition
• Aunt Martha’s Youth Service Center, Inc.
• Greater Elgin Family Care Center
• Howard Brown Health Center
• Lake County Health Department
• Pilsen-Little Village Community Mental Health Center
• Project of the Quad Cities
• Sinai Community Institute
• United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, Inc.
• Winnebago County Health Department