Genesee Health Plan awarded federal grant for second consecutive year to help Genesee, Bay and Saginaw County residents enroll in health care

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) grant will continue to boost GHP’s efforts to enroll uninsured Mid-Michigan residents in health care coverage amidst global pandemic

FLINT – The Genesee Health Plan (GHP) announced it has received a federal Navigator Cooperative Agreement Award from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for a second consecutive year to help GHP continue enrolling uninsured residents of Genesee, Saginaw and Bay counties. GHP is one of 30 recipients nationwide and one of two organizations in Michigan to receive the grant for 2020-2021.

“Enrolling in health care coverage can be a stressful and confusing process and, at the Genesee Health Plan, we’re committed to making sure community residents know what their options are and enroll in coverage that best fits their needs,” said Jim Milanowski, GHP president and CEO. “The CMS grant will allow us to continue our work in reaching populations who face barriers to enrolling in health care coverage, which is especially important in 2020 due to COVID-19.”

As an added layer of safety, GHP is offering over-the-phone and virtual enrollment assistance to minimize risk and exposure.

The CMS grant will continue to support GHP’s efforts to raise awareness of health care enrollment through the Federal Health Insurance Exchange – also known as HealthCare.gov – and develop communications to reach populations who face cultural or language barriers. It will also help GHP continue to enroll underserved populations in health care including people with cultural or language barriers, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, employees of small businesses and small business owners, members of federally recognized tribes and citizens re-entering the workforce.

Under this grant, GHP will continue “Get It, Keep It, Know It, Use It” – an educational campaign to help people get health care coverage, keep their coverage, understand what their health care coverage provides, and know how to use their health care coverage. GHP will also leverage its community partnerships to reach more people throughout Genesee, Bay and Saginaw counties.

The CMS Navigator Cooperative Agreement Award began in 2013 as an opportunity for organizations that serve as Navigators to help individuals understand their health insurance options and assist with enrolling in health insurance through the Federal Health Insurance Exchange. Open Enrollment is now through Dec. 15.

This one-year project will provide GHP $92,988 to assist with outreach and education efforts during pre- and post-health care enrollment. CMS will fund 28% ($92,988) of total program costs and GHP will fund 72% ($237,105) of the project costs, totaling $330,093. The project described is supported by Funding Opportunity Number CMS-NAV-19-002 from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

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Disclaimer: The contents provided are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of HHS or any of its agencies.

Genesee Health Plan (GHP) is Genesee County’s plan for better health which began with the vision to have a community where each person has equal and affordable opportunity to live a healthy life. GHP is a nonprofit health care organization that was launched in 2001 to provide health care coverage and life-saving services to the uninsured residents of Genesee County. The plan has provided more than 90,000 county residents with doctor’s visits, cancer screenings, prescription drugs, x-rays and many more life-saving services since 2001. Learn more about GHP at geneseehealthplan.org or call 844.232.7740.