A couple of months ago, the state-sponsored report (written by our friends at the Center for Popular Democracy) on how to reduce health disparities through the New York Health Benefit was released, outlining a myriad of recommendations culled from a stakeholder meeting held back in September.  You can read the Center for Popular Democracy report here.

HCFANY commends the Exchange for its ongoing examination of many issues in regard to health disparities and the Center for Popular Democracy for airing some of the most critical topics in its report.  However, we felt that some of the issues touched on in the report require further consideration by the Exchange and that the State needs to take this initiative a step further and reach policy conclusions, set concrete goals, and settle upon a practical mechanism for reaching those goals. Basically, we feel that the State’s implementation of an insurance Exchange is a once in a lifetime shot to make some serious systemic changes that can actually make a difference, and that the State isn’t doing enough to take advantage of this situation. To outline our concerns, HCFANY recently issued a series of comments to the State.  You can read our comments here.

Lastly, this past Friday we received a response from the State to our comments.  It doesn’t say much other than to acknowledge that they received it.  But hey, at least it’s something to get the conversation started, right?  You can click here to read the State’s response.