BY ROSE ADAMS
The city will allow uninsured
Brooklynites access to
healthcare services for little
to no cost through a new program
beginning this month.
The program — called NYC
Care — will allow residents
who don’t meet the requirements
for Medicaid, or other
state insurance policies to access
primary care doctors,
dentists, surgeons, and a host
of other services provided at
any NYC Health + Hospital facility,
the city’s public hospital
system.
Enrollees will be assigned
a primary care doctor and
will have access to specialists
— including mental health
professionals and substance
abuse counselors — which
they’ll pay for on a sliding
scale that’s dependent on the
patient’s income.
Users can access NYC
Care’s services at one of three
facilities in the borough —
Coney Island Hospital, Kings
County Hospital Center in
East Flatbush, and Woodhull
Medical Center in Bedford-
Stuyvesant — using their
“NYC Care Card.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who
introduced the $100 million
program in the Bronx last
year, has hailed the initiative
as the fi rst “universal healthcare”
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COURIER L 14 IFE, JANUARY 17-23, 2020
plan in the country —
although political fact checkers
have labeled that claim as
“mostly false.”
Policy experts say that
NYC Care is more of an outreach
effort than a major
change in the system — since
for years NYC Health + Hospitals
has offered the same services
to residents, regardless
of their immigration status or
ability to pay.
“It’s a modest but welcome
step to improve access to
healthcare,” said David Sandman,
the president of the New
York State Health Foundation,
a private organization
that provides grants for public
health-related projects. “This
is an advanced outreach program.”
What sets NYC Care apart
from the current, walk-in
system instituted at public
hospitals is its user-friendly
approach, according to Sandman,
who noted that the program
provides 24/7 hotlines,
books appointments quickly,
and allows patients to choose
one primary care doctor to
serve as their go-to provider.
But NYC Care is not health
insurance, as enrollees can
only visit doctors at NYC
Health and Hospital clinics,
according to Sandman.
“Access is good, but health
insurance would be a better
move. That would have to happen
at the state-wide level,” he
said.
Coney Island Hospital is one of three medical facilities that will treat
uninsured Brooklynites under the new scheme. Photo by Steve Solomonson
NYC Care fi rst rolled out
in the Bronx in August, and
10,000 residents had enrolled
by December, the Mayor’s offi
ce reported.
City Hall estimates that
about half of New York’s
600,000 uninsured residents
qualify for the program — including
undocumented residents
and “young invincibles,”
or young people who don’t
think they need healthcare.
And the initiative may
help increase healthcare outreach
in Brooklyn — which
has some of the highest rates
of uninsured residents in the
city. According to a June report,
Sunset Park and Windsor
Terrace are home to the
lowest numbers of health-insured
residents in the city.
To check your eligibility for
NYC Care or any other state insurance
program, visit www.
nyccare.nyc or call 1-646-NYCCARE.
Caring for Kings
New city healthcare program will offer
coverage to uninsured Brooklynites
1943 Brown Street Brooklyn, NY 11229 goodshepherdbklyn.org
/www.nyccare.nyc
/www.nyccare.nyc
/goodshepherdbklyn.org
