Guest post:
Bob Cohen, Policy Director, Citizen Action of New York/Public Policy and Education Fund;
Theo Oshiro, Deputy Director, Make the Road New York

New York took a big leap forward in enrolling nearly a million New Yorkers in health coverage during the first open enrollment period under the ACA that ended in March, but we still have a lot to do to ensure that all New Yorkers, including traditionally excluded communities, fully benefit from the federal law. This is the simple message of a new “white paper” released in June by two HCFANY partners, the Public Policy and Education Fund and Make the Road New York, in conjunction with the Alliance for a Just Society, a national network for research, policy and organizing.

The report, “Addressing Health Disparities Through the Marketplace: An Action Agenda for New York State of Health,” applauds NY State of Health for a number of steps it has already taken, like easing enrollment in emergency Medicaid. The white paper establishes a broad agenda with 11 recommendations for further actions by NYSOH and the Legislature. For example, the report recommends a greater focus on outreach aimed at reaching diverse communities through steps like stronger targeting of ethnic media and reexamining current restrictions on navigators on contacting New Yorkers in their homes. It suggests that public numerical targets be set for enrollment of groups like immigrants and people of color, that NYSOH move forward aggressively with translating its website into languages other than English, stronger enforcement of requirements that health plans develop clear strategies to address health disparities, and the establishment of  a stakeholder task force focused on the reduction of disparities.