Navigators Say GOP Lawmakers’ Information Requests Are 'Shocking'

Source: Kaiser Health News

Organizations that received the latest round of health law navigator grants say last week’s letter from House Republicans could have a chilling effect on efforts to hire and train outreach workers to sign up Americans for health insurance by Oct. 1, the opening day for new online insurance marketplaces.

The letters were signed by 15 Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and requested that the organizations provide extensive new documents about their participation in the program and schedule a congressional briefing by Sept. 13. The letters went out to 51 organizations--including hospitals, universities, Indian tribes, patient advocacy groups and food banks—out of 104 that shared $67 million in grants.

"I find the letter quite offensive," says Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, which received a $1.9 million grant. "It is shocking. It is absolutely shocking."


Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Texas, says the letters are inappropriate, and represent a congressional overreach into the relationship between the federal government and contractors. "This is as if a congressional committee had sent a letter to every doctor in Texas who takes Medicare," she says. "These are organizations that are used to being completely buffered from politics. It’s not their bailiwick to get caught up in some kind of political show."

Read more: http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2013/September/05/navigators-respond-to-gop-letter-requesting-information-on-operations.aspx