State-Based Marketplaces Spent Heavily to Help Enroll Consumers

The Affordable Care Act required that consumers have access to in-person or on-call assistance to understand their choices and "navigate" the complexities of the new health insurance marketplaces. One consequence of each state's decision about whether to run its own marketplace is an extreme variation in the time-limited funding available for consumer assistance programs. This Data Brief looks at the types of assistance available and the level of funding for each state in the first year of marketplace operations.