Review of New York State Public Health Insurance Policy Changes and Enrollment in 2008

This NYHealth-funded issue brief by the Children’s Defense Fund – New York (CDF-NY) reviews public health insurance policies implemented in 2007 and 2008 that may have collectively influenced child and adult enrollment in 2008.

To assess the impact that health policy changes to Medicaid, Child Health Plus, and Family Health Plus may have had on enrollment, CDF-NY engaged in a monitoring project that compiled monthly enrollment data and compared it against various public health insurance policies.

CDF-NY believes the policies that may have influenced enrollment include the Child Health Plus expansion, the elimination of temporary enrollment in Child Health Plus, the implementation of presumptive eligibility for children’s Medicaid, the raising of adult Medicaid asset test eligibility levels, the implementation of self-attestation of income and residency at renewal, and a 15-day application submission timeframe.

Recommendations include making specific improvements to existing programs, and eliminating face-to-face interviews at application, the adult asset test, and the finger printing requirement for Medicaid beneficiaries.