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QUEENS WEEKLY, JULY 7, 2019
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Flushing has highest
uninsured rate in city
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
The neighborhoods
of Flushing, Murray
Hill and Whitestone
have the highest rate of
residents without health
insurance, according to
a new report published
by the New York
City Independent
Budget Office (IBO).
Some of the city’s
community districts
had particularly high
shares of uninsured
but little access to
nearby public hospital
faci lities, according to
the report, “Are NYC
Health + Hospitals
Facilities Located in
Community Districts
With the Highest
Shared of Uninsured
New Yorkers?” which
mapped the location
of public hospital
facilities and uninsured
residents in 59
community districts.
In January, Mayor Bill
de Blasio announced the
launch of a new program
called NYC Care, a cityfunded
NYC Health
+ Hospital initiative
expected to cost $100
million per year when
fully implemented in
fiscal year 2022.
The program will
serve approximately
600,000 New Yorkers
without insurance by
strengthening New
York City’s public
health insurance
option, MetroPlus, and
guaranteeing anyone
ineligible for insurance
— regardless of ability
to pay and immigration
status — has direct
access to NYC Health +
Hospitals’ physicians,
pharmacies and
mental health and
substance services.
Expected to roll out
in the Bronx later this
summer and across the
boroughs by 2021, the new
initiative aims to link
uninsured individuals
with a primary care
provider in the hopes
New York City Independent Budget Office
of keeping patients out
of the emergency room
visits for routine care.
Overall, there
were about 615,000
uninsured New Yorkers
in 2017, roughly 7
percent of the city’s
population, according
to figures from the
U.S. Census Bureau.
Among city residents
who were not U.S.
citizens about 300,000,
or nearly 22 percent
were uninsured — and
the rate was likely
even higher among
non-citizens who were
undocumented, the
report said.
In Queens, there
is a lack of access
to NYC Health +
Hospital facilities in
neighborhoods with
the highest shares of
uninsured residents.
Based on the report,
Community District
7, which includes
Flushing, Murray Hill
and Whitestone (with
a total population
of 257,989), had an
uninsured rate of 15.5
percent in 2017, the
highest in the city.
Yet, there are no public
hospitals in the district,
the report said.
Additionally, the total
uninsured population
in the district includes
26,315 non-citizens,
according to the report.
Following Community
District 7, other Queens
neighborhoods such as
Community District
3 (Jackson Heights
and North Corona)
and 4 (Elmhurst and
South Corona) also had
comparatively high
uninsured residents as
well as nearby public
hospital facilities.
More than 14 percent
of residents Queens
Community Districts
3 and 4 were without
insurance, according to
the report.
Neighborhoods with
comparatively lower
rates of uninsured
residents include
Manhattan’s Community
District 3 (Chinatown
and the Lower East Side,
6.0 percent uninsured)
and Community
Districts 1 and 2 in the
Bronx (Hunts Point,
Longwood, and Melrose
with 9.3 percent)
served by a number of
NYC Health + Hospitals
facilities.
Reach reporter
Carlotta Mohamed by
email at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4526.
/schnepsmedia.com