Affordable Care Act SHIP and ADRC Options Counseling for Medicare Medicaid Individuals in States with Approved Financial Alignment Models | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The grant opportunity titled "Affordable Care Act SHIP and ADRC Options Counseling for Medicare Medicaid Individuals in States with Approved Financial Alignment Models" (Funding Opportunity Number CMS-1N1-14-001) is a discretionary funding program run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It uses a cooperative agreement funding instrument, which generally means CMS expects to have an active role in overseeing and coordinating certain aspects of the work rather than simply issuing funds with minimal federal involvement. The purpose of the opportunity is to strengthen access to neutral, consumer-oriented guidance for people who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, commonly called "dual eligibles," specifically in states operating CMS-approved Financial Alignment Model demonstrations.

At its core, the program is designed to fund State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) and/or Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRCs) so they can provide "options counseling" to dual eligible individuals who are affected by a state demonstration. The emphasis is on helping beneficiaries make informed decisions about how they receive their Medicare and Medicaid benefits in an environment where new integrated plan choices may exist. CMS highlights that counseling must be unbiased and consumer friendly, and it must be clearly separate from the entities that may have a stake in enrollment decisions, such as Demonstration Plans (the plans participating in the financial alignment demonstration) and Enrollment Brokers (organizations or contractors that may facilitate enrollment). In practical terms, CMS is trying to ensure that people navigating complex coverage options have access to a trusted, independent source of help that is not part of the marketing, enrollment, or plan administration machinery.

A key compliance expectation in the announcement is the required separation between counseling funded under this opportunity and other counseling activities SHIPs and ADRCs may already perform with different grant funds. The notice specifically directs SHIPs and ADRCs to keep options counseling for dual eligibles who are part of the State Demonstration separate and distinct from benefits counseling they provide to beneficiaries who are not part of the demonstration. This is an operational and accountability requirement meant to avoid blending funding streams, mixing scopes of work, or creating confusion about which services are being supported by which federal funds. It also reinforces the idea that the demonstration-related counseling should be tailored to the unique decisions and issues dual eligibles face under the financial alignment model rather than general Medicare counseling provided to the broader public.

The eligible applicants are state governments, which aligns with how SHIP and ADRC programs are typically organized and administered at the state level, even when services are delivered locally. The activity category is health, and the CFDA number listed is 93.626, associated with Affordable Care Act SHIP and ADRC options counseling activities. The grant does not require cost sharing or matching, which reduces barriers for states to participate and signals that CMS intended the funding to directly expand capacity for counseling services rather than requiring states to bring additional funds to the table.

Financially, CMS listed an estimated total funding amount of $8,000,000 for the opportunity, with an award ceiling of $1,000,000 and an award floor of $0. The ceiling indicates the maximum amount a single award could receive under the program, while the $0 floor usually reflects that award sizes could vary widely depending on state needs, the number of dual eligibles affected, and the scope of work proposed. Because it is a cooperative agreement, awardees should generally expect more structured reporting, defined deliverables, and ongoing coordination with CMS compared to a simpler grant model.

The timeline information shows the opportunity was originally posted on May 7, 2014, with multiple closing dates listed across 2014 and 2015, culminating in a current closing date shown as August 14, 2015, and an archive date of September 13, 2015. The presence of multiple closing dates typically reflects multiple application cycles, amendments, or rounds of funding under the same umbrella announcement. While the opportunity is archived, the summary remains useful as a reference point for how CMS structured consumer assistance requirements around the Financial Alignment Model demonstrations and the broader policy goal of protecting beneficiary choice through independent counseling.

For access and application support, the announcement points applicants to the Grants.gov Contact Center for technical difficulties retrieving the full announcement electronically, providing the standard phone number (1-800-518-4726) and email (support@grants.gov). This is consistent with federal grant administration practices, where grants.gov serves as the primary portal for submissions and technical assistance.

Overall, the grant can be understood as a consumer-protection and navigation-support investment tied directly to states implementing integrated care demonstrations for dual eligibles. CMS used SHIPs and ADRCs because they are established, trusted counseling infrastructures, and it required a clear firewall between this counseling and demonstration plans or enrollment brokers to maintain neutrality. The intended outcome is that Medicare-Medicaid enrollees receive clear, independent guidance that helps them understand their benefit options and make choices that fit their needs without being steered by organizations with enrollment or financial incentives.

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