The Shumlin administration this summer handed out $2 million in federal money to organizations charged with helping Vermonters understand their options on the state’s new health insurance market, Vermont Health Connect.
These so-called navigator groups and their 200-plus individual navigators are responsible for raising awareness and providing in-person help to the roughly 100,000 Vermonters enrolling in the market. Navigator groups cater their resources toward different populations, from the uninsured to women to immigrants to small business owners and their employees.
In 2014, individuals and busineses with 50 or fewer employees must buy plans on the new market. Although the navigator groups specialize in helping different demographic groups, they are supposed to serve any Vermonter who needs assistance.
Navigators are spread out across the state in almost 50 locations. To help Vermonters find the right organization, we’ve mapped the navigators.
By hovering over a navigator location near your home, you can see navigator focus populations, contact info, how many navigators work at the location and the amount of taxpayer dollars the organization is receiving.
While some navigator groups are operating independently, others are part of a wider network coordinated by a central entity. For example, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce is overseeing a $260,000 grant in coordination with the Lamoille Regional, Mount Snow Valley, Northeast Kingdom, Rutland Regional and Springfield Chambers of Commerce.
In addition to the registered navigators, all 14 of Vermont’s community hospitals, the Brattleboro Retreat, the Veterans Medical Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Cottage Hospital in Woodsville, N.H., are offering navigator assistance.
