A nonprofit organization in New York has created a free website – www.EnrollNY.org – that simplifies the process for uninsured state residents to obtain coverage.

The new website allows uninsured New Yorkers to quickly screen for public health insurance eligibility and — for the first time — connects users to health plans to help them complete the application, according to organizers from the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality.

The website is available to residents of New York City’s five boroughs and six upstate counties, including Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess.

Organizers say until now it was difficult for uninsured New Yorkers to determine eligibility for New York free and low-cost health insurance. Using EnrollNY, uninsured applicants answer four questions to determine eligibility for Medicaid, Child Health Plus, Family Health Plus. Once information is entered, data are transmitted to a New York State-authorized Facilitated Enrollment organization, which in turn calls eligible applicants within 48 hours to schedule state-required face-to-face interviews.

The Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality develops information technology to streamline health care enrollment and clinical care. EnrollNY was funded in part by a New York State Health Foundation grant awarded to the Hudson Center.

“While we’ve seen online eligibility calculators before, this is the only application that sends the information to a facilitated enrollment organization, which will call the individual to complete the application process,” explains Georganne Chapin, the Hudson Center’s president and CEO, in a statement. “EnrollNY is a major leap in making the current application process more efficient, and convenient, and speeds the path to enrollment for the uninsured. Our hope is that EnrollNY will give millions of uninsured New Yorkers easier access to free or low-cost health care.”

“One of the quickest ways to reduce the skyrocketing number of uninsured New Yorkers is to make sure those who are eligible for public programs are enrolled,” said James R. Knickman, president and CEO of the New York State Health Foundation, in a statement.