Press Release
CBOs Urge City Council to Restore Funding to MCCAP at City Hall Rally
MCCAP built community-based capacity to address racial and ethnic disparities, insurance problems and medical debt before it was discontinued in 2010
A group of nonprofit organizations and healthcare advocates rallied on the steps of City Hall today to urge the City Council to restore funding to a program that can provide immediate relief to New Yorkers struggling with medical debt.
Between 1998 and 2010, the New York City Council funded the Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program (MCCAP) to help New York City residents navigate the healthcare system, resolve medical billing and debt issues, appeal plan decisions, and access affordable care. The program served around 140,000 residents, regardless of their type of insurance coverage, in all five boroughs through a grassroots community collaboration of 26 community-based organizations (CBOs) led by the Community Service Society.
MCCAP lost its City funding in 2010 when hard City budget choices were made during the Great Recession. While state legislators were able to secure some Affordable Care Act funds to establish a similar statewide consumer assistance program called Community Health Advocates (CHA), only 10 of the 26 MCCAP CBOs received new funding to continue providing services. As a result, New York City lost important resources to serve vulnerable populations like communities of color, immigrants, and non-English speaking residents. These types of services are needed more than ever because surveys show around 60 percent of New York City residents struggle with complex and confusing insurance rules, medical bills, and affordability issues, forcing them to forgo needed medical care.
As city budget deliberations enter the final month, supporters of MCCAP and City Council Members have united in an effort to restore the program. Restoration of MCCAP would allow the city to leverage the infrastructure and expertise that the statewide consumer assistance program has developed to ensure that consumers in the city, especially the most vulnerable, have somewhere to go for help with their post-enrollment needs.
MCCAP is a particularly good investment in this tough fiscal year; an appropriation of $1 million of City funds for MCCAP will become $2 million by drawing down federal matching funds. It will also tap into existing, available capacity at participating CBOs which offer a range of services to their clients, such as legal, social, education and career services.
“We urgently need to address health care affordability in New York City by providing adequate resources to our public health care providers and leveraging community based organizational assets so that our diverse communities get quality and affordable health care in the communities they live in without fear of medical debt and onerous out-of-pocket costs,” said Mark Levine, Health Committee Chair, NYC Council Member.
“Community-based service providers have a proven record of helping people navigate our complex health care system,” said Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried. “Community-based programs like MCCAP are best positioned to help people access affordable health care, address crippling medical debt, appeal health insurance denials and more.”
“For many New Yorkers, medical bills can be costly and medical debt can accumulate quickly,” said Council Member Vanessa Gibson. “The Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program (MCCAP) helps residents navigate the healthcare system to resolve their medical billing and debt issues, appeal plan decisions, and access affordable care. With the continued attacks on all aspects of our healthcare system, it is crucial to continue providing these vital services to our communities.”
“Navigating the healthcare system without being taken advantage of can be an enormous challenge for any person, and especially for our low-income community members. Uncertainty about medical bills and insurance rules should not be a deterrent from seeking the proper medical services, or become an overwhelming burden on those individuals in the process of seeking treatment. I am proud to stand with my colleagues at City Council in calling for funding to be allocated to Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program in the upcoming budget. This organization has developed a network of community-based organizations that has a long history of assisting the most vulnerable New Yorkers to receive the critical information and assistance they need,” said Council Member Andrew Cohen.
“Organizations like CSS and programs like MCCAP play a crucial role in our underserved communities, where New Yorkers struggle to find access to good, affordable healthcare,” said Council Member Eric Ulrich. “As budget deliberations ensue, I encourage my colleagues in government to be a voice for the City’s most vulnerable population and restore funding to MCCAP.”
“We all need healthcare to live better lives, but many New Yorkers don’t understand how to navigate the system to get the care they need,” said Elisabeth Benjamin, CSS Vice President of Health Initiatives. “Before its funding was discontinued, MCCAP helped New Yorkers use our complex health care system aided by trusted and experienced organizations with deep ties to the communities they serve. Restoration of the program will help ensure that more New Yorkers, particularly those from underserved communities, can get affordable quality care that they need.”
"For the last 40 years, NMIC has served some of New York's most vulnerable community members. We have also seen many of them struggle as they navigate a complex health care system that often times forces them to choose between paying their rent or paying for health care costs. Funding the MCCAP program would give NMIC and other organizations the capacity we need to help community members navigate the health insurance system. Healthy community members means healthy communities. Healthy communities means a healthy NYC,” said Maria Lizardo, Executive Director of NMIC.
"As a social service provider for the Korean and Asian immigrant communities, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (KCS) is urging the City Council to restore MCCAP funding. KCS received this funding many years ago and lost it in 2010 when the City was facing budget cuts. This funding is crucial, especially because roughly 63 percent of our population is LEP (Limited English Proficient), and it jumps even higher to 91 percent LEP with the older adult population. Our community needs organizations like KCS who can assist them linguistically and deliver culturally sensitive services. Through MCCAP, we will be able to help provide case management, access their health insurance benefits, apply for hospital financial assistance programs, resolve billing issues, and ensure that most unreached New Yorkers receive the vital services that they need,” said Linda Lee, Executive Director of the Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc.
“Speaker Johnson has proven to be a most caring and compassionate leader, always going the extra mile to help vulnerable New Yorkers. We plead with the Speaker to restore funding to MCCAP. The health insurance system is extremely complex. This program helps consumers effectively navigate the various issues and make the best health care decisions for themselves and their families. All New Yorkers desperately need these vital health insurance services. These services would significantly benefit members of the greater Rockaway community and all of NYC,” said Moshe Brandsdorfer, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula
“WHEDco works in the South Bronx in one of the poorest Congressional Districts in the country. The majority of the families we serve are facing multiple challenges on a daily basis, which prevent them from leading healthy, stable lives. For over 25 years, we have provided families in our communities with much-needed access to critical resources –including public benefits such as Medicaid. WHEDco operated a MCCAP under contract with the Community Service Society to help our families obtain and keep their health insurance, and to navigate the complexities of the health care system. Restoring MCCAP would ensure that the families we serve are able to gain access to the medical care they need and drastically improve their quality of life,” said Davon Russell, President of WHEDco.
"Given the current attacks on immigrant communities, it is more important now than ever to have funding for programs like MCCAP, where trusted community-based organizations can provide one-on-one assistance helping individuals navigate the health system. With this funding, organizations like Make the Road New York are able to ensure that immigrant communities continue to access necessary health services, and have the support they need to remain healthy,” said Becca Telzak, Director of Health Programs at Make the Road New York
“We strongly encourage the City Council to restore funding for the MCCAP program,” said Rebecca Antar Novick, Director of the Health Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “As a Specialist organization in the CHA network, we are acutely aware of the ongoing need for post-enrollment health insurance assistance throughout New York City. During this time of unprecedented attacks by the federal government on immigrant communities, it is more important than ever that New Yorkers access this crucial assistance directly in their communities and with organizations they trust.”