Accessing and maintaining health care is a challenge for Long Islanders as the cost of health insurance continuously outpaces inflation and wage increases and the number of providers accepting public health insurance coverage such as Medicaid, Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus continues to decrease. The most common barrier experienced by vulnerable Long Islanders is not being able to afford the health care they need. Despite efforts to expand public health insurance to provide essential services to vulnerable populations, many Long Islanders still do not have access to basic medical care. Barriers that create inequitable coverage conditions for the poor and certain minority populations include:

1) sociocultural, language and education
2) lack of insurance coverage
3) poor access to services
4) unaffordable costs.

OUR WORK
HWCLI’s Health Care Committee, a noncompetitive, collaborative workgroup of high level staff involved in all aspects of health care, work to create logical systems for enrolling, retaining and efficiently serving managed care enrollees while meeting all regulatory requirements.