Plattsburgh-North County Chamber of Commerce

The Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce serves more than 3,200 members with a range of services, including a menu of insurance plans. With a planning grant from the New York Health Foundation’s “Expanding Coverage Options in the Small Group and Individual Market in New York State” program, the Chamber of Commerce conducted market research to determine the health insurance perceptions, preferences, and needs of Tri-Lakes small businesses in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and northern Warren Counties in New York State.

This grant was one of five organizations that received a planning grant from the 2008 NYHealth request for proposals (RFP), “Expanding Coverage Options in the Small Group and Individual Market in New York State.” The RFP grew directly out of the Foundation’s desire to generate ideas for expanding health insurance options for small businesses and sole proprietors.

Read an NYHealth special report that contains a summary of findings from this RFP.

The Plattsburg-North Country Chamber of Commerce is a regional chamber that serves Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and northern Warren Counties in New York State. This project will change the way the Chamber approaches marketing and outreach to its target population in order to increase coverage rates.

The Plattsburgh-North County Chamber has been a member of the Uninsured Task Force since its inception in 2001, and has been working directly with the Tri-Lakes businesses for the last several years to administer health insurance programs. A grant from Adirondack Medical Center enabled the Task Force to hire a project director who has been coordinating its subcommittees’ activities. Future efforts include compiling drug assistance programs for local providers to help their uninsured patients find low-cost prescriptions, and rolling out a resurvey of the entire community’s health insurance offer rates. As part of this project, the Chamber will conduct focus groups with small businesses that do not offer health insurance, and will conduct market research and develop a marketing strategy to bring small businesses to the Chamber for help with their insurance needs.