New York's Congressional Delegation Unites In Support Of Community-Based Enrollment of the Uninsured
Friday, February 10, 2006

As a result of facilitated enrollment, the number of uninsured children in New York has dropped from 729,000 to 469,000 in just six years, and nearly 1.5 million low-income adults are getting needed health care to their benefit and that of their families.

For Immediate Release

Friday, February 10, 2006

Contact: Hector Soto, CDF-NY, 212-697-2323 x 103, hsoto@cdfny.org or Erin Davis, CDF-NY, 212-697-2323 x 107, edavis@cdfny.org.

In an unprecedented show of support, every member of New York's Congressional Delegation endorsed New York State's request to preserve the facilitated enrollment (FE) program, a model program that utilizes community-based enrollers to sign-up uninsured children and families into health insurance. New York Senators Clinton and Schumer and the 29 Members of the House all signed a strongly worded letter sent to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) urging approval of New York's pending request for an exemption that prohibits health care providers and health plans from doing enrollment into the state's public health insurance programs.

"Facilitated enrollment is a critical point of entry for hundreds of thousands of hard-working, low-income New Yorkers and their families to the state's public health insurance system," stated Donna A. Lawrence, Executive Director of Children's Defense Fund New York. "Without FE, the invaluable services conducted by community-based health plans and health care providers will be lost completely in 25 counties, 24 of which are upstate, placing scores of New York families who have public health insurance in danger of losing it, and significantly jeopardizing the ability of untold thousands of more New Yorkers who qualify from ever obtaining it," she added.

By reaching the uninsured in their neighborhoods instead of forcing families to go to a Medicaid office to obtain health insurance, the FE program has helped reach hundreds of thousands of uninsured children and their families in New York State. Last year alone, facilitated enrollers completed more than 500,000 health insurance applications for low income children and their parents. As a result, the number of uninsured children in New York has dropped from 729,000 to 469,000 in just six years, and nearly 1.5 million low-income adults are getting needed health care to their benefit and that of their families.

"Even with all the progress we have made, close to 500,000 children in New York State remain uninsured, 80% who live in working families. Facilitated enrollment is a vital program to link the children to the health insurance they need. We must ensure that this program is continued,” concluded Ms. Lawrence.