Medicaid Redesign Team: Social Determinants of Health Work Group

Contact the MRT Social Determinants of Health Work Group

Share your thoughts with the MRT Social Determinants of Health Work Group by emailing doh.sm.socialdeterminants@health.ny.gov

Work Group Recommendations

Work Group Mission

Previous MRT Workgroups have made recommendations that either fund services through the Medicaid program or have an impact on Medicaid recipients to improve their health and create Medicaid savings. The charge is to provide guidance to the NYS Department of Health (Department) on how best to address the social determinants of health (SDH) to promote health, improve wellbeing and decrease/eliminate disparities due to the SDH.

Charge to Group

The MRT Social Determinants of Health Work Group is being convened at the direction of NY State Medicaid Director, Jason Helgerson. A primary charge to the new work group is to focus on issues related to employment. These could include, for example, workforce development and job training, expanded/continued Medicaid coverage to promote employment of persons with mental, physical or developmental disabilities, or incentivizing worksite wellness programs or expanding work benefits to target low-income workers who are likely to be Medicaid recipients. The Work Group is charged with identifying and discussing a full range of potential strategies, programs, and/or policies related to employment that could decrease disparities in health access, utilization, and outcomes. As with other MRT Work Group recommendations, the goal is to identify proposals that provide cost savings to NY Medicaid or are at least cost neutral and that will have a health benefit.

The co-chairs of the Social Determinants Work Group will be:

  • Governmental Co-Chair: Kristin Proud, Commissioner, NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
  • Community Co-Chair: Elizabeth Swain, President and CEO, Community Health Care Association of New York State

The Work Group includes some members of the former MRT Health Disparities Work Group who wished to be included and additional members with expertise and interest in employment-related issues.

Work Group Members

  • Kristin Proud, Co-Chair - Commissioner, Office of Temporary Disability Assistance (OTDA)
  • Elizabeth Swain, Co-Chair – President and CEO, Community Health Care Association of New York State (CHCANYS)
  • Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza, MPH, Health Policy Director, Coalition for Asian American Children & Families
  • Diana Babcock, Advanced Level WRAP Facilitator (self-employed)
  • Oxiris Barbot, First Deputy Commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH)
  • Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, President of The New York Academy of Medicine
  • LaRay Brown, Senior VP, Corporate Planning, Community Health and Intergovernmental Relations, NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation
  • Neil Calman, MD, President and Co-Founder of the Institute for Family Health
  • J. Emilio Carrillo, MD, Weill-Cornell/New York-Presbyterian Hospital
  • Vince Colonno, CEO at Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese
  • Marti Copleman, JD, MPH, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Worksite for Wellness, New York, NY
  • Carol Corden, Executive Director at New Destiny Housing
  • Trilby DeJung, JD, CEO of Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency
  • Susan Dooha, Executive Director at Center for Independence of the Disabled in NY (CIDNY)
  • Anthony Feliciano, Director at Commission on the Public Health System
  • Dan Gentile, Executive Director at Capital Region Workforce Investment Board
  • Rosa Gil, Founder, President and CEO of Comunilife, Inc.
  • David Jolly, COO at Greater Hudson Valley Family Health Center
  • Charles King, President and CEO of Housing Works, Inc.
  • Jonathan Lang, Director of Governmental Projects and Community Development for the Empire State Pride Agenda
  • Glenn Liebman, CEO of the Mental Health Association of New York State (MHANYS)
  • Amy Lowenstein, JD, Attorney at Empire Justice Center
  • Daria Luisi, PhD, MPH, Manager of Employee Wellness Program, Consolidated Edison of NY
  • Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, Vice President, New York State Health Foundation
  • Pamela Mattel, COO, Acacia Network
  • Ngozi Moses, Executive Director at Brooklyn Perinatal Network, Inc.
  • Joanne Oplustil, President and CEO of CAMBA, Inc.
  • Theo Oshiro, Deputy Director at Make the Road New York
  • Laurel Pickering, Executive Director of Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH)
  • Nancy Rankin, VP of Policy Research and Advocacy, Community Service Society
  • Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director, New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, Inc.
  • Christine Schuyler, BSN, RN, MHA, Director/Commissioner, Chautauqua County Department of Health & Human Services
  • Michael Seereiter, President and CEO at NYS Rehabilitation Association/Rehabilitation Research and Training Institute
  • Curtis Skinner, PhD, Director of Family Economic Security, National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman SPH, Columbia University
  • Chau Trinh-Shevrin, DrPH, Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health and Department of Medicine at the New York University (NYU) School of Medicine and Founder of the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health
  • Jackie Vimo, Director of Health Advocacy at the New York Immigration Coalition
  • David Wright, Senior Advisor for Economic Policy at Empire State Development

Ex-Officio Members

  • John Allen, Special Assistant to the Commissioner, New York State Office of Mental Health
  • Guthrie Birkhead, MD, MPH, Deputy Commissioner, Office of Public Health (OPH)
  • Yvonne J. Graham, Associate Commissioner, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Prevention
  • Elizabeth Misa, Deputy Director of NYS Medicaid, Office of Health Insurance Programs (OHIP)
  • Janice M. Molnar, Deputy Commissioner, Division of Child Care Services, Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)
  • Daniel A. O'Connell, Director, AIDS Institute
  • Peter M. Rivera, Commissioner, Department of Labor
  • Kevin G. Smith, Deputy Commissioner for Adult Career and Continuing Education Services, The State Education Department
  • Ann Marie T. Sullivan, MD, Acting Commissioner, Office of Mental Health (OMH)

2014-15 Work Group Meetings

Monday, July 7th, 2014, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

  • NYC - NYS Department of Health Metropolitan Area Regional Office
  • 90 Church Street, 4th Floor, Conference Room A/B, Manhattan
  • This meeting will be open to the public, but it is a work session and there will be no public comment period.
  • PLEASE NOTE: Observers may also listen to the meeting. Call-in numbers are provided on the Revised Agenda. There is no public comment period; all callers will be put on mute.

July 7, 2014 Meeting Materials

Friday, September 12th, 2014, 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM

  • School of Public Health, U Albany - SUNY
  • 1 University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144
  • This meeting will be open to the public, but it is a work session and there will be no public comment period.

September 12, 2014 Meeting Materials

Friday, October 10th, 2014, 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

  • NYC - NYS Department of Health Metropolitan Area Regional Office
  • 90 Church Street, 4th Floor, Conference Room A/B, Manhattan
  • This meeting will be open to the public, but it is a work session and there will be no public comment period.

October 10, 2014 Meeting Materials