On November 18, 2007, ACTS held its first Public Meeting in three years where our Healthcare Taskforce received a pledge from the county executive as well as from state representatives, the regional governor’s representative and U.S. Rep. James Walsh to work on ensuring more effective outreach, including funding, to enroll children in Child Health Plus. Our taskforce found that at least 7,500 children in Onondaga County remain uninsured although they are eligible for Child Health Plus.
Since our public meeting, we have gathered a coalition of county and state officials and interested private insurers – Fidelis, Excellus Blue Cross-Blue Shield, United HealthCare, and Total Care. We have been meeting monthly as a collaborative group of grass roots organizations, health care providers, health insurance companies, Dr. Rueben Cowart (CEO of Syracuse Community Health Center), Mr. Dan Young of the Governor’s office, Onondaga County Health Department representatives, Onondaga County Social Services Commissioner Mr. David Sutkowy and representatives of the Onondaga County Executive’s office.
The following is the letter we sent, with the signatures of both Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney and Mrs. Linda Ervin, acting co-chair of the ACTS Healthcare Taskforce, to the NY state governor:
As you know, the Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse (A.C.T.S.), a network of community organizations, has convened a coalition of experts, community members, and practitioners to address the barriers to acquiring public health insurance coverage for children and families.
This committee has developed specific recommendations and is requesting help from the Governor’s office in reducing obstacles for families enrolling in public health insurance. The following recommendations represent three sustainable systems changes that would benefit all of New Y;ork State, and one that will specifically increase enrollment in Onondaga County.
They are:
· Waive the fee for obtaining an original birth certificate for all Facilitated Enrollers.
· Review the literacy level of the State application, and make the necessary changes so that it reads at or below a 4th grade reading level in all available languages.
· Allow Facilitated Enrollers to use information that applicants have already provided to government programs such as Food Stamps and HEAP. Many applicants for public health insurance already have applications on file for other services that require similar documentation. This would require changes to the state application process.
· Establish a fund of $40,000 for a localized media campaign, unique to the needs of our community. Currently, the New York State Department of Health only allows localities to use Sate developed promotional materials, thereby limiting a community’s ability to address specific needs of their population.
It is our intent to serve as a model to other communities across the state, and with your help, we are certain that barriers to providing health insurance to all New Yorkers will be reduced.
We look forward to your support of our request and thank you for ensuring healthier children and families in Onondaga County.
We are presently working with the governor’s regional representative as well as our state legislators in order to address the points we’ve put forth in the letter above.
Furthermore, the ACTS Healthcare Taskforce has met with Onondaga County school superintendents in order to begin an outreach strategy through school districts throughout the county.
