Roughly three weeks ago, community-based facilitated enrollers received a retroactive reduction by the State Department of Health (SDOH) to their 2011 annual program budgets.
Since the inception of the program, the Children’s Defense Fund of New York (CDF-NY) has been a strong advocate for the network of community-based facilitated enrollers. They are addressing the SDOH regarding the cuts, highlighting the critical role the network plays in outreach, education, and enrollment of New Yorkers onto public health insurance programs. They are requesting the SDOH protect this program moving forward. The WCC has signed on to CDF-NY’s appeal.
The WCC supports the belief that community-based facilitated enrollers are unique in their ability to reach communities with a high need for public health insurance. They speak the languages of the communities, are open during the evenings/weekends, and understand the many challenges facing lower-income families, helping to connect them with other critical supports. Most facilitated enrollment programs operate on very limited budgets. Any cuts to these programs will severely impact their ability to enroll eligible children and adults and, as a result, limit New Yorkers’ access to public health insurance.
