New York

New York: MaxEnroll Initiative

The Covering Every New York Child initiative led by state Office of Health Insurance Programs (OHIP) within the Department of Health (NYDOH) seeks to streamline the enrollment and renewal processes for the state Medicaid and CHIP programs establishing the foundation for a thorough systems renovation.

 The initial phase of the Maximizing Enrollment program focused on an assessment of the strengths and oppurtunities for improvement in each grantee state's enrollment and retention systems. New York's assessment determined the following:

Strengths:

• Dedication to enrolling children regardless of income level and immigration status
• Community-based enrollment assistance
• Partnerships with advocacy and research organizations

Challenges:

• Outdated information systems
• Paper-based application and renewal processes
• Disruptions in coverage when transitioning between coverage programs and at renewal

Goals for Improvement:

• Simplify and streamline eligibility 
• Utlize Express Lane Eligibility (ELE) to ease children's transitions between health coverage programs when family income fluctuates

Key Activities:

• Launched an Enrollment Call Center to phase in a centralized appraoch for renewing coverage beginning in June 2011
• Continue the redesign of ACCESS NY Healthcare Application
• Utilize data reports from Medicaid and CHPlus to improve monitoring of enrollment and renewal trends
• Establish and pilot test ELE to transition with between Medicaid and CHIP

Alignment with Reform:

• Recipient of Early Innovator Grant
• Conducting joint application design sessions on business requirements
• Design, develop and implement exchange IT systems to support core functions of operational Exchange

Click here for a profile of New York’s Medicaid and CHIP programs and to learn about the state’s enrollment and renewal simplification strategies.

“Making coverage available and affordable for all families is critical to maximizing enrollment, but it is not sufficient. It is equally as important to ensure that families can enroll their children in the program without barriers.” – Governor David Paterson, 2008