BRAINERD — The Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid navigator program earned a grant from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation, which awarded $1.5 million in grants to 20 Minnesota nonprofits.
Mid-Minnesota’s navigator program provides direct enrollment and renewal assistance in the St. Cloud office and throughout the region, including Brainerd, Wadena, Staples, Little Falls, Milaca, Elk River, Monticello, Buffalo, Cold Spring, Melrose and Long Prairie. Video and phone appointments will also be offered, and navigators will assist community members through weekly drop-in opportunities and at targeted enrollment events throughout the year. Comprehensive community outreach will include direct mailers; digital newsletters; monthly Facebook Live presentations in English, Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese; community events; and partnership with over 150 other community agencies.
Eighteen of the 20 nonprofits that received grants are part of the foundation’s Equitable Care and Coverage program, which seeks to increase healthcare coverage across Minnesota, support community solutions to accessing equitable care and increase awareness about communities most impacted by a lack of health care access.
The majority of Equitable Care and Coverage grants will be used to fund local outreach navigators, who connect with fellow community members who are uninsured and eligible for programs like MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance and support them throughout the enrollment process.
This work comes at a time when potentially 1.5 million Minnesotans will have to submit paperwork to renew their Medicaid coverage to show eligibility. And as of Aug. 9, about 38,000 Minnesotans lost Medicaid health insurance coverage, according to the Department of Human Services.
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“Health care coverage is vital, and for approximately one in four Minnesotans, that coverage is acquired through the state’s health care programs,” Bukata Hayes, chair of the Blue Cross Foundation board, said in a news release. “Communities of color, Indigenous communities, the LGBTQ community and those in a lower income bracket face significant barriers to accessing the coverage and care they need. These grants are the latest way the Foundation is working to advance racial and health equity — by partnering with our grantees to pave the way for everyone to live their healthiest life.”