Health care contractor pulls out of Phoenix, other cities

PHOENIX — A health care contractor that has helped Phoenix and other American cities with signups for Obamacare will be pulling out of those places next month.

Community groups said that will make it even harder for newcomers to enroll in the Affordable Care Act or for current enrollees to return.

The enrollment period was scheduled to begin Nov. 1 and end Dec. 15 for 2018 coverage.

One of the Virginia-based contractors, Cognosante, operates an enrollment assistance program in Arizona and has a call center in Phoenix. Headquarters notified the affected communities last week.

The company works with the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid agency.

President Donald Trump has been an outspoken critic of the health bill signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010 but the GOP has struggled with a plan to replace or repeal it.

The government-run Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services passed on renewing a final option year on the contracts, which went into effect in 2013.

CMS spokeswoman Jane Norris said the deal was never to be long term and that other government-funded assistance would still be offered.

Norris added the contracts were intended to provide temporary, in-person enrollment support during the early years of the exchanges.

Cognosante’s $9.6 million contract ends Aug. 29. Another contractor, CSRA, also of Virginia, has a $12.8 million contract that expires the same day.

Their help has been made available at libraries and urban sites in Chicago; Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, in Texas; Miami, Tampa and Orlando, in Florida; Atlanta; Philadelphia and Cleveland.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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