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Q&A
Proposed auto-enrollment for city benefit programs (Intro 1028)
1:53:36
ยท
88 sec
Council Member Ayala discusses the proposed auto-enrollment for city programs (Intro 1028) and addresses concerns raised by DSS. Administrator Scott French explains the challenges and limitations of implementing such a system.
- The bill includes an opt-out mechanism to address concerns about respecting individual choice
- DSS cites limitations on auto-enrolling people into specific benefits due to regulations
- Access NYC already identifies potential eligibility for benefits, but doesn't auto-enroll
- Actual applications for specific benefits are highly controlled by regulations
- DSS expresses willingness to discuss further but emphasizes real limitations to automatic enrollment
Diana Ayala
1:53:36
Okay.
1:53:36
Now 10/28, the auto enrollment for city programs.
1:53:41
Bill, I understand that the agency is concerned about automatic enrollment as it believes that we should respect the choice individuals who may not want to enroll in certain programs.
1:53:50
Yet many New Yorkers are unaware that they qualify for certain benefits and should access those benefits immediately, and this bill includes an opt out mechanism as drafted.
1:53:59
How could this bill better meet the needs meet your concerns about choice?
Scott French
1:54:07
I think first, you know, as we sort of said about Access NYC, that is a that is a screening tool that does identify for individuals what they may be eligible for.
1:54:16
You know, actual applications for specific benefits are very sort of controlled depending on the benefits.
1:54:23
So we don't have a lot of freedom there, as well as we don't really have a lot of flexibility around sort of auto enrolling people in specific benefits.
1:54:35
You know, we're happy to discuss it more, but, you know, there are also instances where someone may be potentially eligible for a benefit, but for a variety of reasons we are not aware of, they're not interested in accessing that benefit or applying for that benefit, but we'd be happy to discuss further with the sponsor and the council.
1:54:55
But there are real there are very real limitations beyond what I had sort of highlighted before in regards to just us being able to automatically enroll people into benefits.