Health Center Association of Nebraska is a non-profit 501(c)(3) entity, funded as a Primary Care Association(PCA) through a Cooperative Agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC). We are seeking $925,000 in funding to support the 2022-2023 budget year for the Navigator Program in Nebraska.
HCAN will serve as the project lead, representing a consortium of six Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and one Local Public Health Department in Nebraska. As the project lead, HCAN will direct, monitor and support the program. Navigators at each consortium member will conduct outreach events, educate individuals on on available health coverage options, assist individuals in enrolling in either ACA Marketplace or Medicaid coverage, and assist individuals with selecting a Qualified Health Plan. The following consortium members will perform Navigator activities under this cooperative agreement: Charles Drew Health Center, Inc (Omaha); Community Action Health Center (Gering); Good Neighbor Community Health Center (Columbus); Heartland Health Center (Grand Island); Midtown Health Center (Norfolk); OneWorld Community Health Centers, Inc. (Omaha); and Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (Lincoln).
The statewide consortium will maximize the impact of the Navigator funding, bringing comprehensive support directly to Nebraska's underserved populations. The consortium members are geographically located in areas where vulnerable populations reside, thus being able to reach the targeted groups for the purposes of this grant. The Navigators will be culturally and linguistically representative of the communities they serve, including being bilingual, in order to establish trust with the individuals being served. While Navigator services will be accessible to all Nebraskans, vulnerable and historically excluded populations will be specifically targeted, including: racial and ethnic minorities; refugee and immigrant populations; rural populations; low income individuals; uninsured and underinsured individuals, including those eligible for Medicaid but not yet enrolled; individuals experiencing homelessness; LGBTQIA+ individuals; and people with disabilities or cognitive, hearing, speech or vision impairments.
The consortium will serve populations in 61 different counties, which represent the vast majority of the state's population. The following counties will be targeted: Adams, Antelope, Banner, Boone, Box Butte, Boyd, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass, Cedar, Chase, Cherry, Cheyenne, Clay, Colfax, Cuming, Custer, Dawes, Dawson, Dixon, Dodge, Douglas, Dundy, Gage, Garden, Gosper, Hall, Hamilton, Hayes, Holt, Howard, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearney, Kimball, Knox, Lancaster, Lincoln, Madison, Merrick, Morrill, Nance, Nuckolls, Otoe, Perkins, Phelps, Pierce, Platte, Polk, Red Willow, Sarpy, Saunders, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan, Sioux, Stanton, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, and York Counties. According to the 2019 Small Area Health Insurance Estimates, produced by the United States Census, the 61 counties served by this cooperative agreement encompass 138,339 uninsured individuals out of a total uninsured population of 150,342 in the state of Nebraska. This comes out to 92% of the total uninsured population of the state covered by this proposal.
HCAN anticipates that there will be 16 active Navigator staff who are federally trained and certified/recertified by October 1, 2022. Of that total, 81% are full-time Navigators and 19% are part-time Navigators. HCAN anticipates there will be 16 Navigator staff who are federally trained and certified/recertified by January 16, 2023 through the end of the budget year.