LAKE PLACID -- A task force will be in area schools this week, bringing health-insurance information to the uninsured.

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There is no income cap for Child Health Plus coverage, officials said, as they push to close a gap that leaves some 415,000 New York children without health-insurance coverage.

The 11 percent of Tri-Lakes adults not covered by any plan is a number significantly reduced from previous years, according to surveys done in the past seven years by the Tri-Lakes Uninsured Task Force, an amalgam of state and private organizations working to forge new avenues of access.

STIGMA INHIBITS USE

Anne Morgan of Saranac Lake is spearheading the effort that's under way in earnest this week.

At a kickoff luncheon in Lake Placid, Morgan introduced state insurance officials to a group of small-business owners who said providing health insurance is the biggest challenge they face today.

The lively question-and-answer session focused on the nature of benefits versus the rising cost to insure.

State-supported coverage, such as Healthy New York, has made strides toward leveling the playing field, Morgan said, but the stigma of "low-income" programs keeps many hard-working small-business owners away.

And area chambers of commerce, working under the Plattsburgh/North Country Chamber of Commerce Service Corp., have reached a critical mass bringing more competitive prices for insurance products.

ACCESS ISSUES

Chamber President and CEO Garry Douglas said the No. 1 concern of local business owners is the cost of and access to health insurance.

"And access is going down as providers leave this market," he said of the region's consistent loss of medical practitioners. "So our challenge is even greater."

STATE INITIATIVES

Troy Oshner, deputy superintendent with the New York Insurance Department, said the North Country faces many unique challenges and listed several initiatives put in motion to address them.