Assister Funding Q&A

If our agency does not receive this grant, are members from our staff still permitted to support participants with enrollment? If we do not continue our contract, do we need to change anything about the way we work with participants to support them with MNsure? We are trying to figure out if we are required to have this grant to remain a provider.

The FY 2027 Navigator Grant Program is an optional, additional source of funding for navigator agencies. If you do not apply for or receive funding from the FY 2027 Navigator Grant Program, your staff would continue to be certified and can continue to help consumers apply for coverage. As a contracted navigator agency, your agency would also continue to be eligible for per enrollee payments. 

Could an entity apply for Level 1 Funding on its own and be included in another entity's Level 2 Funding? 

An individual agency can only receive grant funds from one grant. While there is no prohibition on applying as part of more than one grant, it may complicate the review committee’s ability to make funding recommendations.

The save application icon will save the progress of the online application portal?

Yes. Applicants can start filling out the application online in Foundant and save their progress by clicking on the “Save Application” option at the bottom of the screen. They can return and resume filling out the application by selecting “Open Application.” You must hit the “Submit” button for MNsure to process your application. Applications with saved information that are not submitted before the application deadline will not be considered. Detailed instructions for how to complete the application online in Foundant are including in the slides from the information session (PDF) on February 11.

We help clients get on MNsure as a lot of them are homeless. To qualify for the grant does an organization need to help people in the community aside from their own clients?

Yes. To be eligible to be considered for this grant opportunity, the lead agency for the grant must have a MNsure navigator contract that is in good standing. Contracted navigator agencies are required to be listed on MNsure’s online Assister Directory and attempt to provide assistance to any consumer who contact them. Agencies who want to limit assistance to their own clients can contract with MNsure as a Certified Application Counselor (CAC) agency. CACs are not listed on the MNsure Assister Directory and are not obligated to help any consumer that contacts them for assistance. More information on the types of contracts and responsibilities are available on the Assister Funding Opportunities page.

Is there less focus for Funding Level 1 grantees on providing case management, more on application/renewal? And case management is more focused on Funding Level 2 grantees?

Funding Level 1 prioritizes an applicant’s strong, well-established connections to populations that are in most need of assistance. The lower minimum qualifications recognizes that agencies focused on these populations may spend more time providing case management and other support but have fewer interactions that result in new eligibility or enrollment. There is still an expectation that the agency is conducting outreach, application, enrollment, case management and renewal support. However, the activities are more intensely focused on a select population. Grant funding is intended to help the agency sustain their commitment to dedicating staff time to providing year-round health insurance assistance. The $50,000 limit for this funding level enables MNsure to any evaluate potential risk factors for each grant and minimize administrative requirements when possible. 

Funding Level 2 prioritizes applicants positioned to make a more substantial commitment to navigator work, employing full-time navigators and demonstrating experience with providing extensive case management support and success with helping consumers gain and retain health insurance coverage. Agencies applying for these grants are expected to have strong community connections, but the higher level of available funding is to sustain the commitment to full-time staff serving a wider range of consumers needing more intensive support. The scoring criteria reflects that by giving the Current Navigator Activities and Grant Objective and Strategies scores more weight than the Community Connection score.

For Funding Level 2, is an objective of 1,500 individuals reached annually a must?

During the information session on February 11, MNsure provided an example objective for a Funding Level 2 proposal. The example was “1,500 individuals in the grant’s geographic area will obtain or maintain health insurance coverage.” The number of 1,500 individuals was just intended as an example. The actual objective for an applicant will vary based on factors like population served and the geographic area. The slides from the information session, including speaker’s notes, are available on the Assister Funding Opportunities webpage.

The RFP states that a paid partnership can include community partners conducting outreach activities that are not contracted navigator agencies, with funding up to $50,000. Could a technology organization that provides digital enrollment support tools and consumer education resources qualify as a non-navigator paid partner to an eligible lead agency?

An organization providing technology services would likely be considered a contractor or consultant and not eligible as an outreach paid partner.

The RFP includes a budget category for contractors/consultants. Could an existing navigator grantee use grant funds to contract with a technology provider for tools that increase navigator capacity, such as AI-powered plan comparison, self-service consumer education, or automated case tracking — provided the grantee justifies the need in their application?

An applicant can include technology services in the contractors/consultants budget category. However, applicants should review the contracting and bidding requirements for nongovernment entities on pages 26-27 of the RFP for services and/or materials that are expected to cost $10,000 or more.

Since grant eligibility is related to current/previous enrollment activity, does MNsure have a sense of how many agencies would qualify to apply in each region? Are there any anticipated gaps in eligible organizations in any regions of the state? 

The threshold for funding level enrollment activity was based on the median monthly per enrollment number for the November 2024 to November 2025 time period for all navigator agencies actively assisting consumers. For Funding Level 1 (up to $50,000), an agency would have helped an average of just over 6 individuals per month successfully apply or enroll in coverage. For Funding Level 2 (up to $550,000), an agency would have helped an average of just over 18 individuals per month. The period used for the analysis includes most of two open enrollment periods (December 2025 per enrollment data was not available prior to the release of the RFP). 

MNsure recognizes the minimum qualification requirements will impact potential applicants, including collaborations. The changes are intended to align the RFP with the goals of the grant program and aid applicants in developing proposals that are realistic and competitive. 

The purpose of the grant program is to sustain an infrastructure of navigator agencies with strong connections to populations facing a variety of barriers in applying for coverage or maintaining coverage. MNsure recognizes that measuring success in helping these populations can be difficult as each household can be a significant investment of time.

However, the additional funding available to navigator agencies through the grant program is to support a professional workforce of experienced certified navigators with a year-round commitment to helping Minnesotans. While navigator work is challenging, it is also important that the investment of public funds has demonstratable results. The thresholds for the minimum qualifications for each funding level are a reasonable expectation, based on actual data, for an agency with an organizational commitment to helping consumers obtain and maintain coverage year-round. In a preliminary analysis, MNsure found that navigator agencies throughout the state met the minimum qualifications for both Funding Level 1 and Funding Level 2.

The requirement that a lead agency in a paid partnership meet the requirements for Funding Level 2 is a practical one. There is not a reasonable way to structure the RFP requirements to allow an agency that only qualifies for Funding Level 1 to receive a grant award that exceeds $50,000. 

Current navigator agencies that do not meet the minimum qualifications for Funding Level 1 could consider whether their agency may be more effective as an outreach partner. An application can proceed to Stage 3 of the evaluation process (Merit Review) even if a paid partner does not meet the minimum qualifications for Funding Level 1. The application can indicate that, if awarded a grant, the paid partner would terminate their navigator contract and act as an outreach partner. Outreach paid partners that are not contracted navigator agencies are eligible for up to $50,000 of the total grant award. An agency that selects to terminate their MNsure navigator contract if the collaboration is award a grant can return to contract as a navigator agency in the future.

For the minimum requirement categories, it talks about Agency Experience, Agency Performance, and Navigator Staffing. If we have a paid partnership with multiple agencies, are these requirements referring to just the agency who is the main applicant, or all the agencies in the application combined?

If an application is a paid partnership, the lead agency must meet the minimum qualifications for Funding Level 2 for the application to advance to Stage 3. 

MNsure will also evaluate whether paid partners meet the minimum qualifications for Funding Level 1 or Funding Level 2. Paid partners that are contracted navigator agencies will be required to meet the relevant minimum qualifications to receive grant funding. If a paid partner does not meet minimum qualifications, but the lead agency does, the proposal will advance to Stage 3. However, MNsure may inform the committee if any paid partners included in the application are not eligible to receive grant funding.

To clarify, each agency is evaluated on whether they meet minimum qualifications based on the agency’s own activities. Data is not combined across agencies for the minimum qualification evaluation.

Have the December 2025 Navigator Payment reports been sent yet to fully calculate our performance score?

Navigator payments for December 2025 are finalized and have been issued. The December 2025 payment is only used for evaluating Category 1: Agency Experience – 1 point if the agency received at last one per enrollee payment for assisting with any health insurance program in every quarter of 2025. The December 2025 payment is not used to evaluate the Agency Performance category. Potential respondents may request their minimum qualification score by emailing navigatorgrants@mnsure.org by 5 p.m. on February 20. 

What factors are you looking at to possibly increase current grant awards for existing grantees?

This is a new grant cycle and funding awards will be based on the merits of the individual proposal, the scope of the objective and strategies, an evaluation of the financial management capabilities of the agency, and in the context of all other proposals advancing to Stage 4 of the review process. In accordance with Minnesota Statutes 16B.981 Subd. 2 (1), MNsure will also take into account the grantee’s history of performing duties similar to those required by the grant. 

How would changes to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid impact MNsure?

This question is outside the scope of the RFP. However, the Minnesota Department of Human Services has provided some updates regarding this topic at the monthly navigator statewide webinar. Past presentations are available on Navigator One Stop.