For more than a month, people and families who until then regularly received benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, by the initials of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, They have been subject to the vagaries of federal politics. They were denied SNAP, it was restored, but partially, and so on.
“Many community organizations in our Hispanic Federation serve vulnerable sectors of the Latino population,” says Yesmín Vega, Director of Economic Empowerment for the federation. “They are on the front line of battle and are painfully aware that for these Latinas and Latinos the situation is an absolute emergency. It is the difference between being able to feed themselves and their loved ones more or less adequately, and going hungry.”
This lack of food, all the more serious because it occurs in a nation where food is what is left over, is doubly painful because it has been increasing in recent years. Today, one in five New York children does not receive enough adequate food.
“Although hunger is the same every day of the year,” adds Yesmín, “the imminence of the Christmas holidays colors the lack of food with even more discouraging tones.”
To alleviate the uncertainty of food insecurity, the Hispanic Federation will provide more than 35,000 families across New York State with $1.4 million worth of food. This help will be added to our program Fight against hunger, which will allocate more than three million dollars to supply food to some 75,000 New York families.
The food distribution will take place during the rest of November and December with the invaluable collaboration of our member organizations in various parts of the state. Interested families can obtain information by calling (866) 432-9832.
ACA Open Enrollment
I remind you that this month a new open enrollment period began in the various plans of the New York State Health Insurance Marketplace, also known as Obamacare or ACA, by its original name, the Affordable Care Act.
The Hispanic Federation helps with enrollment, both for people who renew their enrollment or change their plan, and for those who want to enroll for the first time.
The plans in question are Medicaid, Child Health Plus, el Plan Esencial and the Qualified Plans. In reality, it is possible to enroll in the plans in the first three categories throughout the year, but not in the Qualified Planswhich can only be entered during this open enrollment period or if you qualify during the Special Enrollment Period.
The current Open Enrollment Period will be extended until January 31, 2026. For those who enroll by December 15, coverage will take effect on January 1, 2025. And those who enroll after that date will only be able to use their plans starting February 1.
For help enrolling in any of the plans, call the Hispanic Federation’s toll-free, bilingual hotline at (866) 432-9832. And have some identification, your address, your social security and phone numbers, and income information on hand.
And if you want to know more about the Hispanic Federation and our member agencies, check out our website.
Until the next column!
Frankie Miranda is the president of the Hispanic Federation