From left to right, Mark Hannay, LGBT Task Force Co-Chair; Star Morris of Callen-Lorde Community Health Center; City Council Health Committee Chair Corey Johnson; Jay Laudato, Executive Director of Callen-Lorde; David Sandman, Senior Vice President of the NYS Health Foundation; and Lois Uttley, LGBT Task Force Co-Chair.

Uninsured LGBT New Yorkers Urged to Sign Up for Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Plans by Feb. 15 Deadline

Guest Post: Lois Uttley, Director of Raising Women’s Voices – NY and C0-Chair of HCFANY’s LGBT Task Force

HCFANY LGBT Task Force members today launched a week of activities to inform uninsured LGBT New Yorkers about their coverage options and help them apply before the Feb. 15 enroll through the NY State of Health Marketplace. An estimated 1 in 4 LGBT people who would qualify for financial aid to buy health plans are still uninsured nationwide.

New York City Council Health Committee Chair Corey Johnson joined Task Force members for a kickoff press conference at the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in Chelsea, one of several LGBT-friendly Navigator agencies participating in this week’s activities. “This week, we are getting the word out to LGBT New Yorkers in all five boroughs: Get enrolled, get covered! All New Yorkers deserve quality, affordable health insurance,” said Council Member Johnson, who facilitates the Council’s LGBT Caucus. “There is a wide variety of services available to help LGBT New Yorkers get enrolled and every effort must be made to inform the community about them. This is particularly important because there are well-documented health disparities that affect our community.”

NYS Health Foundation Vice President David Sandman noted the success of NY State of Health Marketplace so far in enrolling previously uninsured New Yorkers and the importance of the new coverage opportunities for LGBT people. “For LGBT New Yorkers, those benefits cannot come soon enough. Numerous studies have found that LGBT people are uninsured at disproportionately high rates.” The Foundation has been supporting the work of HCFANY and LGBT Navigator agencies such as Callen-Lorde.

Callen-Lorde Executive Director Jay Laudato explained his agency’s experience with providing enrollment assistance: “At Callen-Lorde, we were thrilled to be able to enroll nearly 3,000 individuals – many of whom were previously uninsured – with low and no-cost health insurance products under the Affordable Care Act..”

Other LGBT-friendly agencies participating in the week’s activities include the LGBT Community Center in Manhattan, Voces Latinas in Queens, GMHC, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, the Community Service Society and Make the Road NY, which has offices in Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. Information and enrollment events are scheduled in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Westchester County. All of these organizations belong to HCFANY’s LGBT Task Force, which has organized the week’s activities, said Task Force Co-Chair Mark Hannay.

“We want uninsured LGBT New Yorkers to know that you can apply for coverage without fear of discrimination or being turned down because of pre-existing conditions,” said LGBT Task Force Co-Chair Lois Uttley. She noted that same-sex married couples and any children they may have are eligible for family coverage. Under a new state policy, private health plans being offered in the NY State of Health Marketplace now must cover medically-necessary gender transition services. The state has also proposed lifting some of the existing restrictions on Medicaid coverage for medically-necessary transgender care.

LGBT Health Insurance Outreach and Enrollment Week is being organized by the LGBT Task Force of Health Care for All New York (HCFANY, www.hcfany.org), as part of a national week of activities, endorsed by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, to reach uninsured LGBT Americans with information about new health insurance coverage options created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Organizations involved in planning and coordinating this week of events in New York include the Beth Israel Medical Center/Mount Sinai Health System, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, Community Service Society of New York, LGBT Community Center, Make the Road New York, Metro New York Health Care for All Campaign, Raising Women’s Voices-New York and Voces Latinas.