By Bob Cohen, Esq., Policy Director of Citizen Action of New York and the Public Policy and Education Fund

As we discussed in the first blog post of this series, 2.1 million New Yorkers have enrolled in health coverage through the NY State of Health Marketplace (NYSOH) as of the end of the marketplace’s second open enrollment period. NYSOH’s second annual open enrollment report shows one of the key reasons why: the strong program the State has established to provide one-on-one in-person assistance to consumers and small businesses to compare and enroll in health plans.

Two-thirds (67%) of total marketplace enrollees used in-person assistors – Navigators, certified application counselors (CACs) and brokers – in the marketplace’s second year, a significant increase from the first year, when 49% got one-on-one help. All three kinds of in-person assistors are trained and certified by the State. Navigator agencies are funded by NYSOH.

The State’s investment in Navigators and other in-person assistors has really paid off. In the second year, New York made significant progress in enrolling hard-to-reach populations – exactly the New Yorkers that Navigators and CACs are intended to reach. Eighty-nine percent of consumers in the second year didn’t have insurance at the time they enrolled, versus 81% in the first year. Thirteen percent said their preferred language was Spanish, versus 10% in the first year. The state’s Navigators know the communities they serve and are trusted by community members to provide accurate and unbiased information. When you’ve never had health insurance before, or you have limited English proficiency, you’re much more likely to prefer getting help from a community group in your neighborhood than to call a toll-free number. Navigators work evenings and weekends, which is particularly attractive for those with more than one job, irregular work hours, or child care obligations.

The in-person assistance program also expanded in 2015: there were 11,388 trained assistors (Navigators, CACs, and brokers) as of the end of February of 2015, versus 8,960 in 2014, according to the state report. In-person assistance will continue to be a key to the success of NYSOH in 2016, as more and more people hear from their friends, co-workers, relatives and neighbors about the value of assistors in navigating the complexities of health insurance enrollment.

This is the second in a series of blog posts about the NYSOH 2015 Open Enrollment Report.