HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced $150 million in grant awards to 1,159 community health centers nationwide to help educate uninsured residents about coverage options through state health exchanges. The announcement of the grants comes as the Obama administration develops a series of education and outreach campaigns relating to the new marketplaces.
The new round of grant awards will also help health centers hire an additional 2,900 outreach and eligibility assistance workers to help consumers understand their coverage options under state-based exchanges, Medicaid and CHIP. The grant awards vary by state depending on the percentage of uninsured residents. Health centers in California and Texas, which both have some of the nation’s highest uninsured rates, will receive about $21.9 million and $9.9 million.
