Community-Based Groups Offer Cost-Effective Way to Keep People Covered Amid Federal Cuts to Healthcare System
David R. Jones, La Nueva Mayoria / The New Majority
It can cost as little as $30 to enroll or keep a New Yorker in public health insurance when community-based outreach and enrollment strategies are used to reach low-income communities, communities of color, and historically uninsured groups. This is one of key lessons learned from the philanthropically funded Keep New York Covered (KNYC) project, which was recently highlighted in a report by the Community Service Society (CSS), and discussed by Elisabeth Benjamin, one of the report’s authors, during an interview on David Lombardo’s Capital Pressroom show.
This lesson holds significant importance for our state policymakers who are grappling with finding ways to mitigate the adverse impacts of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will have on the state’s health insurance coverage rates, particularly among Latino communities that will be disproportionately affected by the law’s restrictive provisions.
The KNYC project, led by CSS, was part of a 14-month insurance renewal campaign by the state from March 2023 to October 2024. The campaign aimed to reduce coverage losses after federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency rules expired. These rules ensured 9 million New Yorkers had public health coverage during the pandemic, securing the state’s lowest uninsured rate ever. Expiration of federal PHE policies in 2023 put those gains at risk.
The results of the KNYC project proved that local community groups are especially adept at reaching people who might not respond to traditional ads or outreach. Working together, 36 community groups were able to get or maintain health coverage for 85,132 people in only 7 months. These groups—ranging from immigrant advocacy organizations and neighborhood health centers to local nonprofits and faith-based groups—reached people in their own language, at community events, and through multilingual media and social platforms.
With an estimated 1.5 million New Yorkers expected to lose coverage under President Trump’s new law, and another 500,000 potentially forced to switching to different programs, community-focused strategies like those employed by KNYC groups will be more important than ever to help people navigate disruptions in coverage.
The role of these organizations will be particularly saliant for Latino immigrants who will be directly impacted by upcoming changes to the state’s Essential Plan. The plan, which now covers 1.5 million New Yorkers, will no longer be available to non-citizens under the new law, including Green Card holders who have lived in the U.S. for fewer than five years.
But the bill’s impact won’t be limited to immigrants. Within two years, people enrolled in Medicaid through the ACA expansion will face new hurdles like recertifying twice a year and meeting work requirements. The real aim of these changes is to make it harder for people to keep their health coverage. In this environment, local organizations will once again be essential in helping communities stay insured.
New York is facing one of the biggest challenges to its healthcare system. Changes to health coverage threaten not only the health of millions of residents but also the stability of the system itself, with hospitals projecting $8 billion in losses, putting 70 percent of the state's hospitals at risk of closing.
The state will need to find ways to protect immigrants from losing coverage while addressing budget cuts—a difficult task. One thing is clear: by investing in and partnering with community-based organizations, which bring decades of experience in health insurance enrollment and navigation, policymakers can take the most cost-effective path to ensure vulnerable New Yorkers have trusted local resources to maintain their health coverage through the difficult times ahead. That should be a no-brainer.