On January 10, GNYHA testified at a hearing of the NYS Assembly Health Committee and the NYC Council Committees on Health, General Welfare, and Oversight and Investigations. The hearing addressed whether enrollees in Disaster Relief Medicaid (DRM), the time-limited program established after September 11, made a successful transition into permanent Medicaid or Family Health Plus (FHP) after DRM expired last year, the status of FHP implementation, and the extent to which applicants may be encountering enrollment barriers.

GNYHA's testimony focused on the results of research it conducted for a Commonwealth Fund-sponsored study that examined how 13 other states with health insurance programs similar to Family Health Plus have addressed their design and implementation challenges in order to glean lessons for implementing FHP and coordinating it with New York's existing Medicaid and Child Health Plus (CHP) programs. The experience of DRM and its streamlined application and enrollment process, as well as the examples of other states, provide valuable lessons for how New York could ensure that its public health insurance programs attain their highest potential. Finally, GNYHA recommended strategies to maximize enrollment and retention and reduce administrative costs in FHP, Medicaid, and CHP.