‘The Health of the City Depends on the Health of its People:’ Cuomo Unveils Health Care Plan
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today unveiled a comprehensive plan to make health care more affordable while enhancing access for residents that cannot access vital health and wellness services. The Governor’s plan would connect all New Yorkers to primary care and specialty care when needed, establish a New York City Ombudsman to assist residents who are denied by their insurance plans, and increase access to affordable and nutritious food options.
“The soaring cost of health care is not just a financial burden, it's a relentless weight that crushes New Yorkers, leaving them with fewer options and a growing sense of helplessness in the face of their own health,” Governor Cuomo said. “The health of the city depends on the health of its people. Every resident deserves access and choice when it comes to the health care they and their families need and deserve.”
This is part of a broad Affordability Agenda designed to address the rising costs facing New Yorkers. This plan tackles the critical economic challenges New Yorkers face daily.
The issue of affordability of health care in New York City has two basic components. More than 60 percent of New York City residents receive free or heavily subsidized government-provided health care coverage from Medicaid, the Essential Plan, and Child Health Plus; Qualified Health Plans supported by tax credits under the Affordable Care Act; or Medicare. For these New Yorkers, access to care is the main issue. Health care affordability, even if it’s free, is only meaningful if people can access services.
The second component of health care affordability in New York City involves the cost of health care for those covered by employer-sponsored plans or in the individual insurance market. These costs, especially including deductibles and copays, have grown at a rate much higher than general inflation. It is also the case that New Yorkers with public and private health insurance coverage alike often struggle with denials of coverage for particular services by their insurance plan.
Governor Cuomo’s Health Care Plan will:
- Ensure Access to Primary and Specialty Health Care: Every New Yorker should have a connection to a primary care provider or health system — this should be our North Star health care goal. Governor Cuomo’s Health and Wellness Agenda will build on the strengths of New York City Health + Hospitals (H+H), including its NYC Care program, which provides over 145,000 low-income individuals access to a New York City H+H health care provider. New York City will also seek to partner with large independent physician associations, which are providing community-based care in their neighborhoods, as well as with the federally-funded community health centers, which operate more than 470 sites across the city.
- Bring Health Care Services to Where People Are: An integral part of Andrew Cuomo’s Health and Wellness Agenda is bringing health care directly into communities – particularly public schools and NYCHA developments – to remove barriers and improve health outcomes. services directly to communities – especially in public schools and NYCHA housing.
- Preserve and Strengthen Safety Net Hospitals: Even as more health care services shift to community-based care, it is essential that New York City maintain and strengthen its network of safety net hospitals. H+H is the anchor of hospital access for most lower income communities, serving more than 1 million patients every year. Andrew Cuomo’s plan calls for leveraging H+H’s strengths and its economies of scale, including by having H+H partner with academic medical centers and smaller, stand-alone private safety-net hospitals to improve efficiency and expand services.
- Use the New NYC Office of Health Care Accountability to Address Issues of Affordability: In June 2023, the New York City Charter was amended to establish the Office of Health Care Accountability to serve as a vehicle for improving the affordability of health care for consumers, as well as for New York City government. This Office is charged with helping to identify inefficiencies in the health care system that can be addressed to improve quality, lower costs and increase the sustainability of safety net hospitals and other vulnerable participants in the health care delivery system.
- Promote Price Transparency for “Shoppable” Health Care Services: One of the main purposes of the City’s new Office of Health Care Accountability is to enhance price transparency by enabling comparisons of health care costs across different providers, particularly for “shoppable” services to help consumers make informed choices. In addition to the advocacy efforts of the Office of Health Care Accountability on price transparency, New York City can lead by example when it comes to price transparency by ensuring that MetroPlus, the City-owned health care plan, has a state-of-the-art price transparency tool for its members.
- Protect New Yorkers from Health Insurance Plan Denials: Regulation of health insurance and the health care delivery system is a state responsibility. Just as New York State and City agencies protect consumers from abusive business practices, New York City will enhance its role in safeguarding residents from unfair health insurance practices, particularly wrongful denials of coverage.. New York City will do this by adding a health insurance ombudsman function to its existing Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
- Scale Up Efforts to Make Healthy Food More Accessible and Affordable: During his tenure, Governor Cuomo focused on making fresh, locally produced food available and affordable in underserved communities through a wide range of innovative programs. These included farmers’ markets, mobile markets, and food boxes; investing in urban agriculture and community gardens; building out the infrastructure to connect New York farms with New York City consumers; and leveraging institutions like schools and food banks to distribute healthy food widely. He will bring this ambitious approach to supplement New York City’s existing programs to make healthy food more accessible and affordable citywide.
Throughout his career in public service, Governor Cuomo has been a champion for working New Yorkers. He raised wages for millions of workers, improved health care for over 1.5 million New Yorkers, passed the strongest gun violence prevention and paid family leave laws in the nation, advanced the most substantial infrastructure program in a generation, including the Second Avenue Subway, the Moynihan Train Hall, the new Kosciuszko Bridge and the new JFK and LaGuardia airports and codified Roe vs. Wade in state law years before the Supreme Court overturned it, all while cutting taxes and reining in spending.
As Mayor, he will apply his extensive experience in public service to address the city’s most pressing issues, including affordable housing, homelessness, public safety, and economic opportunity. With decades of proven leadership and a strong commitment to progress, Governor Cuomo is ready to guide New York City toward a safer, stronger, and more prosperous future.
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