President Donald Trump delivered a major blow to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) seven years ago when he signed a bill repealing its individual mandate.

Trump once again took aim at President Barack Obama's signature law this past week by cutting off funding to the Federal Navigator Program.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reduces funding by almost 90%

As The Hill explained, navigators exist to help individuals obtain coverage via the health insurance exchange as well as assist them with Medicaid enrollment.

Rather than being private insurance brokers, they are paid through user fees and cannot recommend specific plans or policies to consumers.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Friday that it is reducing funding for the Navigator program to just $10 million. The move represents a funding reduction of nearly 90%.

"Despite receiving $98 million in the 2024 plan year, Navigators only enrolled 92,000 consumers—just 0.6 percent of plan selections through the FFEs during the open enrollment period—at a cost of $1,061 per enrollment," a CMS press release pointed out.

"Additionally, the average cost per enrollment exceeded $3,000 for 12 of the 56 Navigator grantee organizations," CMS stressed.

$360 million is expected to be saved through August 26, 2029

"Overall, Navigator performance data shows that the current level of funding does not represent a reasonable return on investment," it declared.

"These numbers indicate that Navigators are not enrolling nearly enough people to justify the substantial amount of federal dollars previously spent on the program," CMS added.

The Trump administration slashes funding for ObamaCare outreach program https://t.co/Swfn9m0GtR

— The Hill (@thehill) February 14, 2025

CMS went on to forecast that the reduction in funding will ultimately save a total of $360 million through August 26, 2029.

CMS predicts that funding reduction will lead to lower premiums, less spending

It noted that given how user fees are "directly passed through to the premium that health insurers charge, the savings from the Navigator program supports lower premiums for consumers in the individual health insurance market."

"People who do not qualify for federal premium subsidies will directly benefit from lower premiums," CMS predicted.

What's more, the agency further argued that the reduction in premiums "will also translate to less federal spending on premium subsidies."

The Hill recalled how Trump previously cut funding for the Federal Navigator Program during his first term in office. However, those funds were subsequently restored by President Joe Biden, who pledged to increase funding by $500 million over the course of five years.