Two observational studies have shown that NYC Care, NYC Health + Hospitals’ program for the uninsured, has been successful across a variety of factors, including enrollment, service utilization, chronic disease management, and implementation.
NYC Care offers comprehensive, low-cost or no-cost health care services through NYC Health + Hospitals to New Yorkers who cannot afford or are ineligible for health insurance. NYC Care offers a membership card, 24/7 customer service, access to affordable, comprehensive health care services such as primary care, mental health services, and sexual and reproductive health care, low-cost medications, and member materials in multiple languages regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. It has grown to over 145,000 active members and has provided over one million primary care appointments for its members.
The studies appeared in the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) and the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (JPHMP).
NYC Care’s patient-centered approach includes simplifying the steps to access affordable care, building trust with hard-to-reach populations through public awareness campaigns and partnerships with grassroots community organizations, and prioritizing accessibility to health services, resulting in a patient experience similar to that of Medicaid enrollees.
The study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) leveraged statistical analysis to compare NYC Care patients to Medicaid patients and found that, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, NYC Care members had a higher rate of primary care use, similar emergency department use, and fewer hospitalizations. The study published in JGIM also highlighted healthcare utilization among NYC Care members, finding that 83,003 members had completed an average of 2.4 primary care visits and 3.9 specialty care visits. 50.7% of enrollees with diabetes had a hemoglobin A1c less than 7.0%, and 75.2% of enrollees with hypertension had a blood pressure less than or equal to 140/90 mmHg, chronic disease control metrics comparable to those of Medicaid enrollees. Taken together, the studies show how, rather than increasing access to health insurance, municipalities can use health care access programs similar to NYC Care to improve the care and health of the uninsured.
“NYC Care represents New York City’s commitment to treating health care as a human right. For its 145,000 members, NYC Care has not only opened up access to primary care, but this pivotal research shows that NYC Care members have been able to manage chronic diseases and even avoid hospitalizations,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Population Health Ted Long, MD, MHS, in a statement. “Additionally, this research shows that other municipalities could create similarly impactful programs, which would be a step toward treating health care as a human right for all Americans.”
The studies were co-authored by NYC Care CEO Jonathan Jimenez, MD, MPH, and NYC Health + Hospitals Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Population Health Ted Long, MD, MHS, along with NYC Health + Hospitals leadership and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania.
