Public Policy and Education Fund of New York » Reports

A New Pro-Consumer Health Care System

Charlie Albanetti — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:32:58 +0000

(Released January 20, 2011) Policy and Education Fund of New York (PPEF). The report makes numerous recommendations for the state implementation of the new federal law in New York State. The recommendations cover five major areas: 1) consumer-oriented governance; 2) consumer assistance; 3) affordable health insurance rates; 4) consumer rights; and 5) reduction of racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Among the report’s major recommendations are:

strong consumer representation on the governing board of the New York exchange, the health insurance “marketplace” that must be created by the state by 2014;
aggressive consumer enforcement through a significant increase in penalties that may be recovered by the State Insurance Department against health insurers that violate the new federal law, a state exhange that can exclude health plans that sell lower quality products, and a strong role in enforcement by new Attorney General Eric Schneiderman;
a permanent independent consumer assistance office to coordinate community-based organizations across the state to assist consumers with disputes with health insurers, enroll consumers in health insurance, and help consumers select health insurance plans;
reform of the health insurance rate regulation system that was reinstituted in New York in 2010 to allow consumers to meaningfully participate in rate proceedings;
expansion of consumer rights by allowing consumers harmed by serious violations of health insurance laws to recover their damages in court (known as a “private right of action”); and
reduction of health care disparities based on race, ethnicity and other factors: by designating a single state entity to oversee collection of disparities data and to make this information available to the public at no charge through the Internet.

Click here to download the PDF.

Extending the State Fiscal Relief Provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

Charlie Albanetti — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:36:06 +0000

(Released June 8, 2010) The “state fiscal relief” that was included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) played a major role in allowing New York and the other states to balance their 2009-10 with fewer budget cuts and fewer tax increases than would have been necessary otherwise. This “state fiscal relief” should be extended so that its phase-out dovetails more closely with the recovery of the 50 states’ economies and finances.

Click here to download the PDF.

Extending the State Fiscal Relief Provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

Funding Health Care and Other National Priorities

J. Zhu — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:52:37 +0000

(Released August 15, 2009 ) The following powerpoints (“How to Fund Health Care and Other Human Needs” and “The Real Facts About Health Care Reform and Our Community”) were produced by Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, Fiscal Policy Institute, and New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness for teach-ins held throughout New York State in Fall of 2009.

Click here to download the PPT file for How to Fund Health Care and Other Human Needs.
Click here to download the PPT file for The Real Facts About Health Care Reform and Our Community.

United Healthcare: New York Customers Lose While the Company Fights Reform

J. Zhu — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:02:47 +0000

(Released September 22, 2009) The analysis found that United Healthcare has the third worst ranking of any of the 46 health insurers in the state. In addition to being ranked 44th of the 46 insurers in all categories of health insurers (HMOs, non-profit indemnity insurers, and commercial insurers), United Healthcare has the worst record (29th of 29) for complaints among commercial insurers.

Click here to download the PDF.

GHI/HIP and the Need for Federal Health Care Reform

J. Zhu — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:01:20 +0000

(Released September 22, 2009) The PPEF analysis found that each of the 3 GHI/HIP plans is at or near the bottom of the ranking for its category of insurer and for all insurers for consumer complaints. For example, GHI HMO Select is 13th of the 13 HMOs in the state (i.e. the worst of the 13) in the complaint rankings, and 46th of 46 for all insurers. Similarly, GHI’s indemnity plan ranks 41st of all of 46 insurers in the state.

Click here to download the PDF.

The Pulse of Main Street New York

J. Zhu — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:03:15 +0000

(Released June 15, 2009) This report documents small business owners’ experiences with private health insurance and perspectives on different reform proposals – insights gained through the collection of 200 surveys from small business owners. 80 of the 200 surveys were collected by PPEF and our Long Island affiliate, the Long Island Progressive Coalition.

Click here to download the PDF.

Race Matters: Impact of the 2009-10 Executive Budget Proposal

J. Zhu — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:03:12 +0000

(Released March 3, 2009) This report examines the impact of the Executive Budget on people of color in several major policy areas: education, higher education, health care, human services, and criminal and juvenile justice. (It is therefore a snapshot of a few major policy areas; it does not present a full picture of the Executive Budget.) We looked at key policy and spending proposals in the Executive Budget in order to determine whether there will be an unfair impact on communities of color. In each of the policy areas covered, we document that racial inequities will be continued or compounded, although to different degrees depending on the policy area. The results of our analysis are mixed – we found some proposals that address racial and ethnic disparities and others that increase disparities. But on balance the proposed cuts would have a disproportionately negative impact on communities of color. The proposed budget, if enacted, would increase the racial and ethnic disparities in our state by key economic and social measures.

Click here to download the PDF.

Hospital Financial Assistance Programs: Are New York Hospitals Complying with New Requirements?

J. Zhu — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:03:43 +0000

(Released March 21, 2008) A survey of whether New York hospitals are complying with a landmark law that took effect in 2007 to protect uninsured New Yorkers from high hospital bills found that many hospitals were voluntarily offering greater financial assistance than the law requires. However, the survey also found that the great majority of hospital policies had major areas where hospitals did not follow the law.

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Hospital Financial Aid: Do Voluntary Guidelines Protect Syracuse’s Consumers and Taxpayers?

J. Zhu — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 16:05:14 +0000

(Released March 22, 2006) More than 5.6 million New Yorkers, one-out-of three people under the age of 65, did not have health coverage for all or part of 2002-2003, according to a June 2004 report released by Families USA. Most of these New Yorkers, 65%, went without health insurance for six months or longer. According to a report from the National Institutes of Health, 18,000 Americans die prematurely each year due to the lack of health insurance.

Click here to download the PDF.

Hospital Financial Aid: Do Voluntary Guidelines Protect Utica’s Consumers and Taxpayers?

J. Zhu — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 16:05:28 +0000

(Released June 17, 2005) More than 5.6 million New Yorkers, one-out-of three people under the age of 65, did not have health coverage for all or part of 2002-2003, according to a June 2004 report released by Families USA. Most of these New Yorkers, 65%, went without health insurance for six months or longer. According to a report from the National Institutes of Health, 18,000 Americans die prematurely each year due to the lack of health insurance.

Click here to download the PDF.