After contending with President Donald Trump's decision to cut its federal funding, a North Charleston agency that offers free help to sign up for health insurance coverage is trying a new approach.
The Palmetto Project, formerly a health insurance "navigator," is now a bona fide insurance agency. The help it offers to anyone signing up for health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act will still be free. But now, it won't rely on government grants to keep the doors and the phone lines open.
The new organization is called Insure SC.
Since 2014, the Palmetto Project paid the so-called health insurance navigators with federal dollars, and those workers walked people through the process of buying insurance. About 200,000 people sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act in South Carolina every year.
Trouble came when the Trump administration said it would cut federal funds to the navigators. There were only two such groups in South Carolina, the Palmetto Project and the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce. The funds awarded were decided by how many people the organizations enrolled.
Shelli Quenga, program director for the Palmetto Project, said she was expecting a 20 percent reduction. The actual cut totaled more than half.
So this year, the organization is pivoting.
Steve Skardon, executive director of the Palmetto Project, said navigators in Georgia and Ohio canceled their contracts with the government last fall "out of frustration with the way the federal government was undercutting the program."
“We will keep doing the same work, but provide a buffer between South Carolina and the political bickering in Washington," he said in a statement. "The politics makes it difficult to provide the best possible service to South Carolinians."
According to an announcement, the Palmetto Project is the only nonprofit insurance agency in the state, and only the second in the country. The services are free to customers, but the group will be paid a commission by the insurance carriers. They will then use that money to help people gain coverage under Medicaid.
Ray Farmer, director of the S.C. Department of Insurance, said he is not aware of any other nonprofit insurer in the state. Whether or not the brokers make a profit is not a concern of the department, he said.
"This is a different approach, but it’s certainly permissible," Farmer said. "Most get into the insurance business to make a profit."
Every agent must undergo a background check, Farmer said. The department also certifies the firm.
Farmer stressed no matter where they go, consumers who want to buy insurance on the ACA exchanges should contact a broker. BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina has its own customers can call.
The Palmetto Project's shift comes soon after another hike was approved for the plans that BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina will sell on the open exchanges. Prices will increase by about 5 percent. The open enrollment this year runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.
There is also a new company selling ACA plans, but only in Charleston County. Absolute Total Care has been in the business of selling managed care plans throughout the state for more than a decade. It will sell five plans on the marketplace this year, according to the Department of Insurance.
