PPACA To Pay Navigators $20-$48 An Hour

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released information regarding navigators that will help uninsured Americans purchase insurance on the healthcare exchanges. CMS states that the federal exchange navigators will have a tough work load, with a pay scale to match certain levels. The client-level navigator/caseworkers should be paid about $20 per hour, while a mid-level project leader will be compensated $29 per hour, and it will top off at $48 per hour for the senior-level executives.

The federal navigators hired are estimated to hold about 1.7 million “help” sessions a year, according to CMS. A navigator will spend about an hour per client, with approximately 10 minutes of that hour dedicated to recordkeeping. CMS sees the navigators assisting uninsured individuals, rather than employers as the enrollment process begins.

PPACA states that the health insurance exchange navigators cannot be compensated by health insurers, and will be hired in 34 of our 50 states. Navigators are only hired in those states that either have a federally facilitated exchange (FFE) or have a state-federal partnership exchange. Michigan, due to its legislative inaction, is heading towards a federally facilitated exchange. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has dedicated about 54 million to these 34 states, allocating Michigan about 1.9 million dollars.

CMS anticipates providing federal exchange navigator organization grants for 264 organizations. Each organization will employ an average of seven caseworkers/staff navigators. At these navigator organizations, the seven caseworkers will allocate about 1,078 hours per year on navigator “help” session recordkeeping.

With all these changes yet to take place, we will keep you abreast as it unfolds. We will continue to keep you up to date as more developments arise. As always, please contact our Government Relations team with any questions. By phone: 888-277-6464 or by email: bbochniak@michbusiness.org  we value your feedback.