In the FY11 City budget released on June 29, 2010, the Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program (MCCAP) funding was eliminated. As a result, New York will lose the matching federal funding and low-income New Yorkers will lose their primary source of information and assistance in obtaining, utilizing, and maintaining health insurance.
The West Side Campaign Against Hunger depends on MCCAP funds and training to allow us to offer the highest-quality health care counseling to low-income New Yorkers.
For the past twelve years, MCCAP has helped 150,000 New Yorkers understand and access health insurance, and gain health services. The program has been funded each year with $2M from New York City Council and $2M matching funds from the Federal government.
Through a network of 25 neighborhood agencies, the MCCAP program reaches out to the most vulnerable uninsured New Yorkers. The 150,000 clients are low-income, 83% with incomes below $15,000 a year; 58% are African American, Latino or Asian; 37% are people with disabilities or chronic health problems. To meet the needs of New York City’s culturally diverse population, services are provided in 11 languages.
This cut in MCCAP funding comes at a time of increasing need. New York City’s Medicaid program is instituting mandatory managed care enrollment of people with HIV or AIDS. This will bring a new large population into managed care plans. MCCAP has assisted uninsured people transition into Medicaid managed care since 1998. MCCAP agencies have the expertise and have designed training materials to facilitate this transition.
On the eve of mandatory managed care enrollment for patients with HIV or AIDS and the implementation of federal health reform, MCCAP is more necessary now than ever before.
We are hopeful the City Council Members to support the restoration of funding for this most vital program. Please let you Council Member know that you support MCCAP.
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