State lawmakers are calling for the licensing of health insurance navigators, who will help uninsured Georgians and businesses use the new federally-run online health insurance exchanges beginning this fall.
An estimated 850,000 Georgians are expected to shop for affordable health coverage on the exchange website, which will enable them to compare coverage and prices.
The new workforce of navigators, required under the Affordable Care Act, will help determine if they’re eligible for Medicaid, commercial health plans and federal tax subsidies, among other services.
House Bill 198 aims to ensure navigators are knowledgeable about the exchange and the insurance policies that will be available to consumers.
“We support any effort to insure that individuals who may provide insurance advice to Georgia citizens are qualified to do so,” Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens said in a statement.
Under the bill, navigators would be required to go through 35 hours of training to be licensed and participate in continuing education to renew their licenses.
Consumer advocates agree navigators must have oversight. But they worry the proposed bill is too restrictive.
Navigators will already be required by the federal government to do training, and adding more state training on top of that could be a burden on the small community organizations expected to hire these workers, said Cindy Zeldin, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Georgians for a Healthy Future. Navigators will be paid with federal grant money.
Also of concern, Zeldin said, is language in the bill that limits navigators to only working with people and businesses that don’t currently have insurance.
“That seems more driven by a concern that it would take a commission away from (an insurance) broker…rather than the best interest of the consumer,” she said.
Russ Childers, head of government affairs for the Georgia Associations of Health Underwriters, said he doesn’t see the navigators as competition because they aren’t licensed insurance agents.
Navigators can’t advise consumers to opt for specific plans, but they will play a needed role in talking with people about how the process works, Childers said.
Rep. Pat Gardner, D-Atlanta, a sponsor of the bill, said she favors licensing but thinks some requirements may be a little excessive, a concern she said will be discussed in committee.
“It’s very clearly designed to protect the agents and the brokers of insurance companies,” she said. “The question is whether the requirements are reasonable.”
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