State Health Insurance Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center (SHIP TAC)

The State Health Insurance Assistance Program Technical Assistance Center (SHIP TAC) grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Administration for Community Living (ACL), supports the technical infrastructure necessary to assist State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIPs) across the United States. These programs aim to provide Medicare-eligible individuals, their caregivers, and families with free, unbiased counseling and education to better understand their health insurance options. The SHIP TAC serves as a central source of information, expertise, and guidance to 54 SHIP grantees, one in each U.S. state and territory, including the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The SHIP TAC is tasked with supporting SHIPs across four strategic themes: Team Member and Beneficiary Education, Workforce Development, Operational Excellence, and Innovation and Partnership. Specifically, the SHIP TAC must help SHIPs improve Medicare-related content knowledge, manage volunteer and staff training and certification, and enhance access to technical tools such as Medigap comparison platforms and a SHIP-specific Learning Management System (LMS). Additional goals include advancing communication strategies across federal, state, and local networks, improving SHIP performance metrics and reporting systems, and ensuring culturally and linguistically accessible services. Eligible applicants include domestic public or private non-profit entities such as state and local governments, Indian tribal governments and organizations, faith-based and community-based organizations, hospitals, and institutions of higher education. The funding is structured as a cooperative agreement with substantial involvement from ACL, including technical guidance, ongoing consultation, and active participation in major project milestones. The grant will provide one award of up to $1,500,000 annually over a three-year project period, contingent on the availability of federal funding. Applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov. A letter of intent is requested, but not required, by July 10, 2025. Full applications are due by July 30, 2025. The anticipated start date is September 1, 2025. Applicants must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM), and follow specific formatting requirements for the project narrative. The application must also include standard federal forms, a project narrative, work plan, budget justification, organizational capability statement, and letters of commitment from key partners. Evaluation criteria for the grant include project relevance (10 points), proposed approach and work plan (45 points), budget (10 points), project impact and evaluation methods (15 points), and organizational capacity (20 points). Scoring is based on a 100-point scale, and applications not meeting the basic formatting and submission requirements will not be reviewed. The program does not require cost sharing or matching funds but allows voluntary commitments of non-federal resources. All required grant activities must be completed in compliance with federal regulations including 2 CFR Part 200 and 45 CFR Part 75. The primary contact for this funding opportunity is Melissa Simpson at the Administration for Community Living. She can be reached at Melissa.Simpson@acl.hhs.gov or 202-795-7314. A Grants Management Specialist, Rasheed Williams, may also be contacted for administrative questions at 202-401-5481.

Submit early (3–5 days ahead); adhere to strict formatting rules or risk disqualification.