OPINION: Low-income communities of color still struggle to access healthcare in dire times

Sudha Acharya is executive director of the nonprofit South Asian Council of Social Services. Photo courtesy of SACSS

By Sudha Acharya

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we have seen hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers access healthcare coverage for the first time in their lives. 

This has been possible because New York has invested in the successful implementation of the New York State of Health Marketplace and Navigator organizations like the South Asian Council for Social Services, or SACSS, which provides in-person enrollment assistance to hard-to-reach communities. 

But the gains in coverage are spoiled by rising health care prices and a complex healthcare system, causing profound barriers to care. 

Many people, particularly low-income communities of color, struggle to access healthcare. And now, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the healthcare affordability crisis: thousands of New Yorkers have lost job-based coverage, and many more cannot afford care. These New Yorkers will need help understanding their insurance options and trouble-shooting potential problems accessing coverage and care because of financial barriers. 

For New York City’s communities of color, immigrants, people who are LGBTQ, and people with disabilities and mental health or substance use disorders, the COVID-19 pandemic has  exposed flaws in our healthcare system, including inadequate cultural and linguistic competencies that can bring down barriers to care for marginalized populations.

SACSS was founded in 2000 partly in response to such issues faced by New York City’s fast-growing South Asian community. We assist more than 30,000 individuals each year in the areas of healthcare access, including health insurance enrollment, and connect people to various benefits and support services while promoting civic engagement and advocating for social justice. 

One program that makes a big difference in the lives of our clients who struggle to navigate the healthcare system, particularly during this time of crisis, is the New York City Managed Care Consumer Assistance Program, or MCCAP.

MCCAP offers our clients a place to turn so they don’t have to contend with the insurance and healthcare system on their own when a problem arises. 

Launched in 1998 by the New York City Council, this model consumer assistance program helped more than 140,000 residents in all five boroughs through a network of 26 CBOs led by the Community Service Society. The program, however, was discontinued in 2009 amid the economic downturn.  Fortunately,   Speaker Corey Johnson, Finance Committee Chair Daniel Dromm, Health Committee Chair Mark Levine and other members of New York City Council, resuscitated the program in 2019 with a grant of $500,000.

SACSS is now one of 12 CBOs, supported and trained by CSS, which receive MCCAP funding. This funding has allowed an organization like ours, with deep roots in the South Asian community, to provide culturally and linguistically competent (in 14 languages) in-person services to those who need help understanding and enrolling in insurance, resolving health insurance problems, getting medical services, and accessing affordable care if they are uninsured. More than 80 percent of MCCAP clients are people of color and/or speak a language other than English at home. CSS also offers assistance through a live, toll-free helpline (888-614-5400) for those people who can’t come to a CBO.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our MCCAP staff and the toll-free helpline remains available to help our clients access these services remotely. For example, Seema, a 40-year-old Nepali immigrant, never had insurance. Being a spouse of a health worker raised concerns that she might contract the coronavirus. She was worried about being able to obtain any health insurance at this time. Our MCCAP advocate spoke with the client in Nepali, gave her the information she needed and referred her to a Navigator. Later that day she was enrolled into the Essential Plan.   

But the current funding for MCCAP is not enough to meet the need. There are many high-need neighborhoods that would benefit from having a trusted CBO like SACSS providing in-person services. As the City begins deliberations on a $92 billion municipal budget, we urge the City Council to consider increasing funding for MCCAP in the FY21 Budget to $1 million. 

These times are dire, particularly for immigrant communities. The federal government’s new public charge rule is stoking genuine fear among many immigrant families afraid of being arrested or deported if they seek care. At the same time, access to affordable quality healthcare for all New Yorkers has never been more urgent.  We need the City Council to fund MCCAP to ensure that all those who need healthcare can get it. 

Sudha Acharya is executive director of the nonprofit South Asian Council of Social Services.