Office of Citywide Health Insurance Access Internship Opportunities

The Human Resources Administration's Office of Citywide Health Insurance Access (OCHIA) is currently accepting applications for 2009 Spring and Summer internships.  This is an exciting opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students interested in helping to implement Mayor Bloomberg's healthcare agenda.  OCHIA's mission is to expand access to health insurance for all New Yorkers.  In fulfilling this mission, we are guided by two distinct, yet related priorities - ensuring that uninsured New Yorkers who are eligible for public health insurance programs such as Child Health Plus, Family Health Plus and Medicaid are enrolled and expanding access to affordable health insurance for the City's small businesses, sole proprietors and working individuals. 

At OCHIA, interns will work on special health insurance expansion projects targeting children and adults.  Placements are available in the Office's three units-Public Health Insurance, Private Health Insurance, and Policy Analysis and Research. 

To apply, send a resume and cover letter to Alpha Brown at brownal@hra.nyc.gov with the subject "Internship."  In the cover letter, please write about your qualifications for this internship and indicate which project(s) interest you most.   

PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS

Health Insurance Consumer Tool

Obtaining health insurance can be a complicated and confusing activity.  Individuals may be unaware that they qualify for free or low-cost health insurance, and small businesses seeking private health insurance may feel overwhelmed by their choices and need help understanding their options.  This project involves developing an online tool to allow New York City residents and small business owners to compare price and benefit information on private health insurance in one convenient location.  The tool will also highlight new State opportunities to buy into private health insurance with premium assistance for eligible low-wage workers.  Interns working on this project will collaborate with OCHIA staff and agency computer programmers to determine the content and design of the online tool and facilitate its development.  Preference will be given to applicants with a computer science background and/or skills in designing Web sites. 

Enrollment in Special Health Insurance Options for Small Businesses

Over 50 percent of the uninsured low-wage workers in New York City are employed by small businesses.  Small businesses in New York City have several health insurance options available to them that are more affordable than those available in the commercial market.  While many of these options have been available for five or more years, small business enrollment in these options is relatively low.  Interns working on this project will identify barriers to enrollment and develop outreach strategies and/or policy options aimed at increasing small business enrollment in these special health insurance options.

Uninsured Workers

Almost two-thirds of New York City's uninsured adults are employed.  Studies indicate that certain workers are more likely to be uninsured, such as non-standard workers, low-wage workers, undocumented immigrant workers, and small business employees.  This project involves conducting analyses and research on the characteristics of uninsured workers and options to expand access to affordable health insurance options for these individuals.  Interns working on this project will help develop policy and outreach strategies to increase health insurance coverage among uninsured workers and prepare related briefing materials.  Applicants interested in this project should have excellent data analysis and superior quantitative and qualitative research skills.

Disconnected Youth

With 30 percent uninsured, young adults make up the largest age-group of uninsured Americans.  Disconnected youth-16-to-24-year-olds who are neither attending school nor participating in the labor force-may be less likely to have health insurance due to their disconnection from school and work.  New York City has the highest number of disconnected youth of any major city in the U.S.  In this project, interns would investigate the effectiveness of disseminating health insurance options to disconnected youth through social networking websites, including myspace.com and facebook.com, and other youth-friendly methods, like youtube.com.

School-Aged Population

Approximately half of the uninsured children in New York City attend public schools.  This project involves creating mechanisms to help uninsured children who attend public schools and their families enroll in public or private health insurance.  Additionally, the project will seek to expand and adapt these mechanisms to reach children enrolled in private schools.  Interns working on this project will work with OCHIA staff and partners in other City Agencies to develop and implement mechanisms and reports that ensure eligible children and their families enroll in and retain health insurance.  Preference will be given to applicants with strong data analysis and Microsoft Excel skills.   

Children Ages 0 to 5

Children enrolled in Medicaid at birth often lose coverage up to age five before gaining it again once they enter kindergarten.  The project involves researching and developing options for improving public health insurance retention among children from birth to age five, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of uninsured children at any given point in time.  Interns working on this project will analyze public health insurance data to determine enrollment and disenrollment patterns as well as work with OCHIA staff to develop policy options to improve continuity of coverage for publicly insured children.  Preference will be given to applicants with knowledge of New York's public health insurance programs and superior quantitative skills.

Outreach Promotion

The Office of Citywide Health Insurance Access, which is comprised of a Public Health Insurance Unit, Private Health Insurance Unit and Policy Analysis and Research Unit, shares information related to outreach and enrollment for public and private health insurance as well as data and analyses related to health insurance access on an ongoing basis.  This project involves creating uniform sets of resources that each OCHIA unit can use in its sharing of information with internal and external partners.  Interns working on this project will review existing resources, assess each Unit's needs and preferences, and develop a uniform set of resources to meet the needs of the Office as a whole.  The intern will work with OCHIA and agency staff in developing the outreach promotion resources.  Preference will be given to applicants with strong writing skills, knowledge of health insurance and outreach subject matter, and attention to detail.