Health centers to help uninsured Americans gain affordable health insurance coverage

$58 million to provide expanded enrollment assistance

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $58 million in grants to 1,157 health centers across the nation currently working to enroll uninsured Americans in new health insurance coverage options made available by the Affordable Care Act.  With these funds, health centers can expand their enrollment assistance efforts as more Americans enroll in affordable health insurance coverage.

“Today’s awards build upon the efforts of health centers across the country as uninsured Americans gain health insurance coverage,” Secretary Sebelius said.  “This investment means that health centers can provide expanded assistance for people in communities nationwide looking for resources to help them understand their insurance options and enroll in affordable coverage.”

With these awards, health centers will be able to meet immediate needs, including expanding the hours of existing outreach and enrollment assistance workers, and hiring new or temporary outreach and enrollment assistance workers.  Today, health centers operate more than 9,000 service delivery sites nationwide and serve more than 21 million patients annually.

“Having more opportunities for face-to-face enrollment assistance from trusted resources at local health centers means that more people will get the help they need to sign up by the end of the open enrollment period on March 31, 2014,” said Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator Mary Wakefield, Ph.D, R.N.

These awards, issued by HRSA, complement and align with other federal efforts to help Americans get access to affordable health insurance coverage. Today’s awards also build upon earlier health center program investments of $150 million to support outreach and enrollment activities.  

For a list of health centers receiving this funding, visit: www.hrsa.gov/about/news/2013tables/outreachandenrollment/.

To learn more about the Affordable Care Act, visit www.HealthCare.gov.  To learn more about HRSA’s Health Center Program, visit http://bphc.hrsa.gov/about/index.html.

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Last revised: December 11, 2013