Project Title
Consumer Empowerment Conference Scholarship
Grant Amount
$2,330
Priority Area
Other
Date Awarded
October 8, 2019
Region
Statewide
Western NY
Status
Closed
Website
In a state as large as New York, a steady stream of smart, innovative work is coming from NYHealth grantees and non-grantees alike that is relevant to NYHealth’s priority areas of Building Healthy Communities and Empowering Health Care Consumers and its focus area on Veterans’ Health. These organizations should be elevating their work and informing key stakeholders at regional, statewide, and national conferences, meetings, and other convenings. Yet, because of a lack of resources, they are often unable to do so. To address this issue, NYHealth is awarding grants through its Sponsoring Conference Participation in Support of Healthy Communities, Consumer Empowerment, and Veterans’ Health Request for Proposals (RFP). Through this RFP, NYHealth is sponsoring low-resource organizations to attend and present at local, State, and national conferences related to these areas. In 2019, NYHealth awarded the Center for Elder Law & Justice (CELJ) a grant to participate in this initiative as part of its efforts to empower health care consumers.
Under this grant, CELJ sent two staff members to the 2019 National Health Law Program’s Annual Health Advocates Conference. This conference brought together top health advocates, attorneys, and policymakers from across the country to discuss some of the most pressing Medicaid and health policy issues and challenges facing low-income individuals and families. This year’s conference focused on advancing health equity, defending Medicaid’s key role in our health care system, analyzing major threats to civil rights laws, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in consumer empowerment work. CELJ was able to compare various state policies, share strategies and solutions, and learn directly from staffers on Capitol Hill about what the upcoming year’s forecast for health policy looked like.