Press Release
CBOs Rally at City Hall Park to Urge City Council to Protect Low-Income New Yorkers from Losing Healthcare Coverage Through the MCCAP Initiative
Unwinding of the federal COVID Public Health Emergency (PHE) threatens healthcare coverage for four million New York City residents.
A group of nonprofit organizations and healthcare advocates rallied at City Hall Park today to urge the City Council to increase funding for the Managed Care Consumer Assistance program (MCCAP), an initiative that can help New Yorkers enrolled in public health insurance troubleshoot coverage and access to care problems related to the unwinding of the federal COVID Public Health Emergency (PHE).
MCCAP advocates help consumers use their health insurance, dispute insurance denials, and address billing issues. It also helps uninsured consumers gain access to affordable coverage and care. MCCAP reaches consumers through a hub and spokes model. The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) acts as the hub with its live, toll-free helpline, which is listed on insurance carriers’ “Explanations of Benefits” and claim denials and Medicaid notices of adverse determination, while 12 community-based organizations (CBOs) serve as the spokes that provide in-person services in 15 languages and at 15 different locations across all five boroughs. The advocates are trained and supported by CSS.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, MCCAP worked tirelessly to provide much-needed advocacy assistance in multiple languages to low-income people of color who lost their coverage or were uninsured, needed help getting a COVID-19 test or vaccine, or have had other problems accessing affordable coverage and care. Since 2020, MCCAP has handled over 10,000 cases for consumers, helping them save approximately $600,000 in healthcare related costs.
The unwinding of the PHE poses a new challenge to MCCAP. In New York, the PHE ensured 9.2 million enrollees in Medicaid, Child Health Plus (CHPlus) and the Essential Plan (EP) remained insured over the past three years without having to go through the usual annual renewal process. Beginning this spring, new federal rules require states to begin redetermining eligibility for public program enrollees. Many of the 9.2 million New Yorkers who have public insurance – four million of whom live in New York City – risk losing their coverage because of the complexities of the renewal process. The people most likely affected will be low-income people of color and New Yorkers who are older, have disabilities or are blind.
As city budget deliberations enter the final month, supporters of MCCAP and City Council Members have united in an effort to increase funding for the program to $2.3 million in FY24. This will allow the city to leverage the infrastructure and expertise that the program has developed to ensure that New Yorkers who have public insurance are adequately supported during the unwinding of the PHE. Now more than ever, they need trusted and experienced MCCAP advocates on their side to help them recertify their coverage, explore other coverage options, and troubleshoot potential issues with gaps in coverage, medical bills and much more.
“It is essential that the City continues to invest in programs and initiatives that help address healthcare disparities in our communities. Through programs such as Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program (MCCAP), trusted community-based organizations have been able to assist in outreach and education, and provide one-on-one services to New Yorkers to learn about their rights, access and enroll in healthcare, and more. We must continue to fund MCCAP to ensure that immigrant and low-income communities keep on having the support they need to have healthier lives,” said, Becca Telzak, Deputy Director at Make the Road New York.
“Despite improvements in our healthcare system in the past decade, including millions of people gaining insurance through the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, one constant remains: the need for free and unbiased assistance to help New Yorkers navigate the complexities of the system and remove barriers to coverage and care,” said David R. Jones, President and CEO of the Community Service Society. “That need is even greater now and the New York City Council needs to step up and keep low-income families from losing access to the coverage and care they need by increasing funding for programs like MCCAP.”
“Our city’s four million residents who depend on public health insurance programs to access care are at risk of losing their coverage due to the unwinding of the federal COVID Public Health Emergency (PHE). Leaving them to fend for themselves will be a terrible mistake that could lead to higher uninsurance rates, delays in getting medical care, and medical debt problems in our most underserved communities,” said Elisabeth Benjamin, CSS Vice President of Health Initiatives. “The NYC Council has an opportunity to mitigate the negative impacts of the unwinding of the PHE by increasing funding for a program like MCCAP that can help New Yorkers navigate the complex renewal process through trusted and experienced organizations with deep ties to the communities they serve.”