Trump’s Navigator Funding Cuts, Much Like in His First Term, Are an Effort to Cripple and Repeal the ACA
Washington, D.C. – The Trump administration today announced that it is cutting nearly 90 percent of ACA Navigator funding that currently helps people enroll in affordable health coverage. Navigators help connect people in underserved communities to health care, ensuring that language barriers or confusing paperwork don’t stand in the way of families getting covered. When Trump cut the ACA Navigator program during his first term in office, enrollment in ACA coverage dropped by over one million people. In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement:
“Donald Trump is doing everything he can to rip health care away from millions of Americans. Today, his administration announced they are slashing critical funding that has helped millions of Americans obtain coverage. Over one million Americans lost their coverage when Trump carried out this same attack on ACA Navigator funding the last time he was in office, and hardworking families will once again suffer from this appalling decision. These drastic cuts make clear that the Trump administration will stop at nothing to deliberately sabotage this country’s health care system and leave millions of Americans uninsured.”
Background
Trump’s Navigator Funding Cuts During His First Term Contributed To People Losing Their Coverage. Trump cut the ACA Navigator program by over 80 percent during his first term in office, from $63 million in the final year of the Obama administration to just $10 million per year from 2018 to 2020. During the first Trump administration, enrollment in ACA coverage dropped by over 1.27 million people and a KFF consumer assistance survey found that there was a significant need for enrollment help while navigating the complex application and enrollment process.
The Biden-Harris Administration Made Historic Investments In The Navigator Program. Ahead of the 2022 open enrollment cycle, the Biden-Harris Administration invested $80 million to the Navigator program, quadrupling the Navigator budget at that time and helping increase enrollment that year from just over 12 million to 14.5 million people. For the 2023 open enrollment cycle, the Biden-Harris administration invested a historic near $100 million into the Navigator program to help consumers navigate the application and enrollment process for the ACA Marketplace, Medicaid, and CHIP to make health care more affordable and accessible to everyone.
During The First Open Enrollment Period, 10.6 Million Americans Were Assisted By Navigators. “More than 4,400 Assister Programs, employing more than 28,000 full-time-equivalent staff and volunteers, helped an estimated 10.6 million people during the first Open Enrollment period.” [Kaiser Family Foundation, 7/15/14]