For video of today’s event, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=d32Agmwr4NM&feature=player_embedded

On Monday, December 7, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined representatives from Health Plus and the Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality—a partnership brought together by BP Markowitz—to announce a successful paperless enrollment process giving hundreds of thousands of uninsured New Yorkers easier and quicker access to healthcare. With paper applications, it takes between 45-90 days for clients to be approved for state-sponsored health insurance; with its new paperless application, Health Plus is enrolling new members in an average of two weeks and, in some cases, even sooner. 

“I am thrilled to have brought together Health Plus and the Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality in a high tech partnership that will streamline the process for uninsured New Yorkers applying for state-funded health coverage,” said BP Markowitz. “Congress, under the leadership of President Obama, has finally made health care a priority, and we must continue to have that same urgency on the state and local levels in delivering coverage efficiently and more accurately to the New Yorkers and families who need it the most.”

Press release from Health Plus:

Contact:  
Sam Singer
Public Relations Coordinator
Tel: 718-491-7071
Fax: 718-504-9686
ssinger@healthplus-ny.org

HEALTH PLUS IMPLEMENTS PAPERLESS APPLICATIONS: UNINSURED NEW YORKERS ACCESS HEALTHCARE COVERAGE FASTER

Brooklyn, New York, Monday, December 7th, 2009 – Thanks to a partnership that began at Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz’s office, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers now have easier and quicker access to healthcare. At a press conference today, hosted by the Borough President, managed care organization Health Plus announced the success of its implementation of FEEA™ – the Facilitated Enrollment Electronic Application process – which, after two years of testing and development, is having an enormous impact on the speed of access to the healthcare delivery system for the citizens of New York City and beyond.

“I am thrilled to have brought together Health Plus and the Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality in a high tech partnership that will streamline the process for uninsured New Yorkers applying for state-funded health coverage,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “Congress, under the leadership of President Obama, has finally made health care a priority, and we must continue to have that same urgency on the state and local levels in delivering coverage efficiently and more accurately to the New Yorkers and families who need it the most.”

Health Plus is currently using FEEA (a technology for streamlining the enrollment process from Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality) to enroll new members in Medicaid, Family Health Plus, and Child Health Plus. It is also using FEEA to renew or recertify enrollment of its Child Health Plus members. Today, more than 50% of new clients are processed by Health Plus through this technology, and the company has set a goal to enroll all new members electronically by the end of the first quarter of 2010.

With paper applications, it takes between 45-90 days for people to be approved for state-sponsored health insurance; with its new paperless application, Health Plus is enrolling new members in an average of two weeks and in some cases even sooner.  In fact, some members are even being enrolled retroactively.

“Health plans like ours,” says Tom Early, Executive Director of Health Plus, “have always used paper applications for the enrollment and recertification of current and prospective members.  While Health Plus grew to nearly 300,000 members over the past twenty-five years using paper,  we recognized that the utilization of this new technology  afforded us a great opportunity to extend our mission of providing access to quality care to New Yorkers in need. Thanks to Marty Markowitz’s introduction to the Hudson Center and to paperless enrollment, we have the privilege of seeing New Yorkers covered more quickly by quality health insurance.

“We have always taken pride in our commitment to the people of the communities we serve,” Mr. Early continues. “Now with paperless enrollment, we can offer our services within a timeframe once considered impossible.  And while it’s great that this technology streamlines our enrollment process, cuts back on administrative overhead, and even reduces environmental waste, the bottom line is that it will improve and possibly save lives.  For many, the once-common three-month-long wait for access to health insurance can mean the difference between receiving desperately needed care or being forced to wait.  So, the fact that we can now get New Yorkers to a doctor more quickly is not only a relief, for some it’s a crucial safety net.

“Special thanks are due to Mayor Bloomberg and the Human Resources Administration for recognizing the importance of electronic enrollment to New Yorkers and assisting in the implementation of this technology.”

“When someone applies for public health insurance for themselves or their children, they shouldn’t have to wait 45 to 90 days for approval while different government offices re-enter data from paper applications,” notes Georganne Chapin, President & CEO of the Hudson Center, the not-for-profit developer and licensor of FEEA. Ms. Chapin further praises Health Plus for its commitment to streamlining the enrollment process. “Health Plus has proven beyond a doubt that electronic applications can be approved in an average of just two weeks. You don’t need all that paper. It just slows things down.”

Before electronic enrollment, all prospective Health Plus members had to fill out the 8-page Access New York Application, which requires complex calculations and extensive documentation, such as birth certificates.  This process is streamlined by FEEA.  Facilitated Enrollers can enter information directly into an electronic file, along with scans of the required documents.  The information is only entered a single time and repeated automatically where needed.  The program’s logic calculates eligibility, which ensures that each applicant is enrolled in the appropriate plan.  It also won’t allow for an application to be submitted until all documentation has been included.  This virtually eliminates mathematical error, as well as oversight.  With the paper version of Access New York, applications could be submitted, only to then be denied and returned for completion, whereas with electronic enrollment, only completed applications can be submitted.  Health Plus now electronically submits its applications directly to HRA’s Electronic Data and Image Transfer System (EDITS), which then in turn, electronically transfers the applications to New York State’s Welfare Management System (WMS).  It is at WMS where the final decision of each application’s eligibility is determined. 

In addition to streamlining the application process, FEEA’s management of member data and documentation is invaluable in multiple capacities.  Not only does it reduce waste and administrative costs, but also acts as a safe-guard against fraud and abuse.  Its ability to store and retrieve information provides audit and reporting tools with a greater assurance of quality.  It also has the ability to instantly fill out a Recertification Application, and update existing information, two processes that were once as laborious as the initial Enrollment Application.

FEEA was originally developed by Hudson Health Plan, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) managed care organization that serves the health care needs of low-income individuals and families in six counties in the Hudson Valley. As one of New York’s first Prepaid Health Services Plans, Hudson has long been a leader in advocacy, operational effectiveness, and clinical quality in New York State-sponsored managed care programs. Hudson realized that information technology was the key to improving the FE process and in 2000 began the development of FEEA. FEEA is now developed, distributed, and supported through the Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality.

Established in 1984 by Lutheran Medical Center, Health Plus, one of the largest managed care organizations in the New York area, works to ensure that every child and adult in the five boroughs and Nassau County who qualifies has access to free or affordable healthcare. As a not-for-profit organization, it helps to keep nearly 300,000 New Yorkers healthy, happy, and strong - proof that the company is well on the way to seeing its mission fulfilled.  Health Plus offers four quality comprehensive plans: Child Health Plus, a New York State Department of Health program that offers parents free or affordable insurance for their children and teenagers under the age of 19; Family Health Plus, a state-funded program offering affordable health insurance to qualified adults, ages 19-64; Health Care Plus, Medicaid Managed Care; and Health Plus Elite (HMO), offering Medicare Advantage and Special Needs plans.