Developing Options for Improving the Healthy New York Program for Small Businesses

Award Amount: $92,906
Approval Date: November 11, 2002
Start Date: December 1, 2002
End Date: July 31, 2004
Harvard School of Public Health
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Principal Investigator: Katherine Swartz, Ph.D.

Minimal enrollment in Healthy New York, an innovative, state-subsidized health insurance program for small firms and individuals, has left unspent most of the $40 million allocated for its first year of operation. A Fund-supported study found that while the program charges premiums substantially lower than those found in the individual and small-group insurance markets, they are still too high for most people to afford. This project will evaluate the program's first 18 months of operation and develop options for reprogramming unspent funds to reduce insurance premiums further, make the program more attractive to its target audience, and boost enrollment. The cost-neutral recommendations that will result from this work should be of interest to policymakers in all states that are searching for creative ways to stabilize and expand private employer-sponsored health coverage.