Erica Chen

Community Health Advocates | New York, NY

Erica Chen is a rising junior at Harvard College, studying Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology, and Cognitive Neuroscience and Evolutionary Psychology.

She is deeply passionate about patient rights, visibility, and access to healthcare, particularly in populations who are unable to advocate for themselves. This includes those with physical, sensory, and developmental disabilities, as well as minority groups who face discrimination as a result of their socioeconomic or educational background—patient groups that Erica has the privilege of working with through various advocacy and support organizations. At Harvard, Erica is involved in the Synapse Buddy Program, a service organization focused on fostering meaningful interactions with patients who suffered traumatic brain injuries. She is also currently working towards an Emergency Medical Technician license to approach patient service from an additional perspective.

This summer, Erica will be working as an undergraduate intern with Community Health Advocates (CHA), the designated Health Insurance Consumer Assistance Program of New York State under the Affordable Care Act. In this role, she will work directly with patients, providers, insurance companies, and other healthcare professionals to provide legal assistance to underinsured New Yorkers who have been denied coverage for medically necessary treatments. She will handle direct case work, shaping each patient’s individual story and case history into patient-centric legal appeals to protect client rights. Her work will also involve policy work, integrating medical research, patient experiences, and public health trends across cases to enact regulatory and legislative changes that protect patients across New York State.