Earlier this afternoon, almost 50 of our member organizations and supporters joined a webinar on HCFANY’s 2014 Policy Agenda for 2014. In case you missed it, the slides and recording are now available!

Here’s a brief summary of what we heard:

• Mark Hannay, Executive Director of Metro New York Health Care for all Campaign introduced HCFANY and our Policy Agenda for this year, including: Basic Health Program, Making Coverage Work for All New Yorkers, and A Consumer-Friendly Health Insurance Marketplace. Follow the links for our current policy brief on each issue.
• Nora Chavez, Director of the Community Health Advocates Program at Community Service Society gave a quick enrollment update and told us about how the Governor’s budget supports consumer assistance programs through authorizing $2.5 in federal funds for these services.
• Heidi Siegfried, Project Director of New Yorkers for Accessible Health Coverage described important provisions in the Budget that would offer out-of-network protections for consumers, including helping to prevent “surprise” medical bills. See our Memo of Support on the legislation here.
• Amanda Peden, Health Policy Associate at Community Service Society talked about the importance of establishing a Basic Health Program in New York, which would offer more affordable health coverage to lower-income New Yorkers who don’t qualify for Medicaid. This program is also currently in the Governor’s budget.
• Mark Hannay closed out with key action steps for HCFANY member organizations and supporters to take. These included a sign-on letter, submitting a memo of support on key policy issues (HCFANY template to come), and joining us for the HCFANY Annual Budget Advocacy Day on March 3!

To view the webinar slides, click here.

To listen to the full recording, click here.