Elisabeth Benjamin Is Recognized for Her Achievements as a Leading Health Care Advocate in New York State

Benjamin Receives the Families USA Consumer Health Advocate of the Year Award

Washington, D.C. - Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers, has presented Elisabeth Benjamin with the Consumer Health Advocate of the Year Award at its annual Health Action conference.

The award, presented every year since 1998, recognizes outstanding contributions on behalf of our nation's health care consumers. The award was presented to Ms. Benjamin for her achievements as a leading health care advocate in New York State, as well as for her efforts as a national leader in consumer assistance programs.

“Elisabeth’s efforts have been central in helping to ensure the passage of the landmark Affordable Care Act,” said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. “She’s achieved many victories in her state, and since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Elisabeth has been assisting nonprofit organizations across the country to develop and design consumer assistance programs.”

Ms. Benjamin is the Vice President of Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society. She is a cofounder of Health Care for All New York Campaign (HCFANY), a statewide coalition of 100 organizations devoted to securing affordable, quality health care for all New Yorkers.

Since its creation in 2008, HCFANY has achieved extensive policy victories, including expanding New York’s Child Health Plus program to all children, extending COBRA benefits from 18 to 36 months for people who lose their job-based coverage, permitting young people to stay on their parents’ coverage until the age of 29, restoring the state’s powers to regulate insurance price increases prior to their imposition on individuals and small employers, public coverage simplifications, improving the state's Family Health Plus Employer Buy-In Program, improving the state's managed care bill of rights, and helping to ensure the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Prior to her work at the Community Service Society, Ms. Benjamin directed the Reproductive Rights Project at the New York Civil Liberties Union, founded and directed the Health Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society, and worked as a health law attorney at South Bronx Legal Services. Ms. Benjamin also worked overseas in various community health and hospital projects in India, the Philippines, Morocco, and Tunisia and on several public health missions to Iraq. She has also published extensively.

Ms. Benjamin received a Master of Science degree in Health Policy and Management from Harvard School of Public Health in 1988 and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1992.

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Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

1201 New York Avenue NW, Suite 1100 · Washington, DC 20005
202-628-3030 · Email: info@familiesusa.org · www.familiesusa.org