Using Strategic Communications to Reach Uninsured New Yorkers

GetCoveredNYC (GCNYC) helps uninsured New Yorkers navigate the health insurance system with real-time human assistance, guiding participants to access health insurance. The client, the communications team of the New York City Mayor's Public Engagement Unit (PEU), manages correspondence and outreach for the GCNYC Program on behalf of the Mayor's Office. The Capstone team aided them in developing a Strategic Communications Plan by gathering better outreach metrics, proposing new public relations strategies, providing additional social and historical research, and creating an implementation plan within a $2 million budget.  

The primary goal was to increase the program's reach to uninsured communities across the city. The Capstone team met with stakeholders such as community-based organizations (CBOs), GetCoveredNYC specialists, public relations experts, and relevant city agencies. The team gained a deeper understanding of the specific audiences and communities the GCNYC Program should target, developed a strategic communications plan to better appeal to and engage these communities, assessed methods that the GCNYC used in the past, and established impact evaluation metrics to collect outreach data for the present and future. The team produced a 76-page report and delivered an in-person presentation to PEU leadership.