Spotlight
Navigating Care
| USF Health
(left to right) USF President Judy Genshaft, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Interim Senior Vice President for USF Health Donna Petersen, U.S. Representative Kathy Castor and FL-CKF Project Director Jodi Ray at the August press conference.
Photo by Eric Younghans | USF Health
A $4.2 million grant awarded to USF will help eligible uninsured individuals get health care.
The one-year grant, awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services, will help individuals who want in-person assistance with shopping for and enrolling in plans through the Health Insurance Marketplace.
The Florida Covering Kids & Families program (FL-CKF) at the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies received the largest award in Florida, and the second largest nationwide. In all, $67 million in “Navigator” grant awards were distributed to 105 organizations.
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recognized FL-CKF’s successful community outreach in helping thousands of uninsured children in Florida get health care following her announcement of the new awards during a press conference at USF.
“Navigators will be among the many resources available to help consumers understand their coverage options in the marketplace,” Sebelius said, “so they can find the option that best fits their budget and need.”
USF will oversee and work with a consortium of 11 partners in all but three counties in Florida. Counselors, or navigators, will be trained and certified to guide people seeking health insurance coverage through the new online marketplace. They will provide unbiased information in a culturally competent manner to consumers about health insurance; the new Health Insurance Marketplace, qualified health plans, and public programs including Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Jodi Ray, project director of FL-CKF, says the new award will allow USF to build on a network already in place to serve a larger population of Floridians in need of health insurance coverage.
“This grant will help us expand the work we have been doing to enroll children to additionally include adults,” Ray says. “We have many community-based grassroots efforts that will allow navigators to go to the places where people are to assist them there.”
“I’m very proud of what we’ve done here at USF Health and the USF College of Public Health to build the infrastructure that enables families to seek and find healthcare insurance coverage for their children, increases access to high-quality health care, creates clinical interventions that are effective, and, at the population level, helps to advance healthier communities,” says Donna Petersen, interim senior vice president of USF Health and dean of the College of Public Health. “This award is recognition of that and our capacity to make life better.”