Expanding Health Care Coverage

Project Title

Health Insurance Enrollment Project

Grant Amount

$150,000

Priority Area

Expanding Health Care Coverage

Date Awarded

December 10, 2014

Region

Long Island

NYC

Status

Closed

Website

http://www.maketheroad.org/

More than 1 million individuals have enrolled in public and private coverage through the NY State of Health Marketplace.

Consumer assistance has played a critical role in helping previously uninsured individuals understand their health insurance options and apply for coverage—in New York alone, fully half of all those who enrolled in coverage relied on in-person assistance. Significant work remains, however, to eliminate barriers to coverage for more than 1 million New Yorkers who remain uninsured and to help those who did enroll renew their coverage. To complement the State’s efforts to engage and enroll uninsured residents, NYHealth launched in 2014 a statewide enrollment network of community-based organizations to conduct education, outreach, enrollment, and referrals. These organizations directly reach populations known to be uninsured at disproportionately high rates: low-wage workers; immigrants; and lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) New Yorkers. NYHealth awarded Make the Road New York a grant in 2013 to participate in this initiative. NYHealth awarded Make the Road New York a second grant to continue these efforts in 2015.

With NYHealth funding, grantees of this initiative undertook a comprehensive range of consumer engagement activities and enrolled uninsured New Yorkers into coverage. Specifically, Make the Road New York’s health insurance enrollment project provided culturally competent and linguistically appropriate outreach and enrollment services on Long Island and in Brooklyn and Queens to reach marginalized immigrant, low-income, and LGBTQ communities that faced barriers to accessing care and enrolling in insurance.

View a complete list of 2015 Enrollment Network grantees.