Elisabeth Benjamin of Community Service Society (left) and Sherry Tomasky of American Cancer Society (right) present the award to Troy Oechsner, Deputy Superintendent for Health, NYS Department of Insurance (center).

Neither snow, nor rain, nor hurricane-force winds, nor gloom of night stayed HCFANY members and fellow stakeholders from attending yesterday’s annual meeting in Albany.   The meeting kicked-off our annual legislative agenda by setting forth the priorities for the coming year, laying out the tasks at hand, and brainstorming strategies for achieving our goals.

The highlight of the meeting was the heartfelt acceptance of HCFANY’s Consumer Health Care Leadership Award by Troy Oechsner, Deputy Superintendent for Health at the New York State Department of Insurance.  Troy has been an intergral force in HCFANY’s fight to control health insurance costs in New York, and worked diligently to restore prior approval of health insurance rate increases, extend COBRA coverage to 36 months, and extend dependent coverage to young adults to age 29, among other victories.  Troy truly embodies the spirit of health system change that is the driving force behind HCFANY, and for that we were proud to be able to honor him with this award.

HCFANY also held a pre-meeting press conference to announce our Five Standards for an Accessible and Affordable New York State Insurance Exchange, which we believe will best equip the forthcoming Exchange to realize the promise of quality, affordable health care for all.

Click below for this and other meeting materials:

• December 1, 2010 – HCFANY Annual Meeting Agenda
• HCFANY’s Five Standards for the New York State Insurance Exchange
• List of current HCFANY member organizations
• HCFANY 2011-2012 Legislative Agenda
• Policy Brief – “Federal Health Reform: What’s in it for Me?”
• HCFANY web flyer
• HCFANY press release on our Five Standards