Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, Inc.

New York’s health care system is in a period of transformation. The State is planning an ambitious set of payment and delivery system reforms and is making major progress in expanding health insurance coverage.

However, many New Yorkers are still either ineligible for subsidized coverage through the NY State of Health Marketplace or struggle to afford their coverage. To ensure that those left behind by the coverage expansions are at the center of discussions of health reform, NYHealth awarded Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy, the fiscal sponsor for Health Care for All New York (HCFANY), a grant for HCFANY to act as a unified consumer voice on health care issues and ensure that the interests of patients are represented in policy debates and decisions.

Under this grant, HCFANY directed its advocacy efforts toward enhancing patient protections; advancing payment and delivery reforms; and promoting affordable health coverage options. It facilitated meaningful consumer engagement and created mechanisms that allowed consumer input to reach policymakers and administrators. To accomplish these goals, HCFANY conducted policy research and analysis and policy campaigns from the consumer perspective. It promoted public education and awareness by creating consumer education materials, sharing consumer stories, creating Web content, and conducting media outreach. HCFANY also conducted grassroots organizing to directly engage consumers in health reform and consumer protections and build coalitions that involve consumers on key health care issues.