New York has a great thing going when it comes to public healthcare options. I realize that every state has it’s version of Medicaid assistance and children’s healthcare protection policies, but the state of New York has implemented levels of assistance to assist families with healthcare that can’t otherwise afford a traditional health insurance policy.

Family Health Plus is a program designed to provide healthcare for families that make too much money to qualify for Medicaid. Child Health Plus specifically provides healthcare plans for children under 19 and don’t have insurance from another source. Most of these plans offer very low premiums or none at all. Many families in other states will fall into the income range that prevents them from receiving Medicaid assistance but there is nothing else to offer them. Arkansas is one of these states and there are others.

The state of New York and specifically certain counties therein have also implemented programs to help certain individuals come off of Medicaid. The choice to purchase a Medicaid Managed Care plan is up to them, unless they receive notification that they must do this because they lost their eligibility for Medicaid. New York also has a special program of healthcare assistance for individuals who own a small business called Healthy NY. This allows the small business owner to offer certain types of coverage to their employees. This is an attractive plan for them because more and more small businesses are opting to cancel their health benefits for their employees as rates continue to increase.

There are several insurance companies that offer these public healthcare plans for individuals that qualify for them. Healthfirst is one of these companies and they specialize in these public healthcare programs. Healthfirst also offers 5 different Medicare Plans to assist recipients that may or may not need a prescription plan or partial help with a prescription plan. They also offer an option for Medicare recipients who also qualify for Medicaid and need extra assistance.

Although Managed Care Plans have suffered from a less than popular reputation in the past, a whopping 90% of Americans actually own one. Sometimes it’s ingrained in our personality to fight against control over any aspect of our life, especially when it comes to our healthcare. We tend to resent it when we have to consult a PCP before seeing a specialist and we may be somewhat offended when we have to consult with our insurance company before getting approval on a particular surgery. But the results that Managed Care Plans have brought to the savings in healthcare speak for themselves. So maybe a little control over our spending is a good thing when we all benefit in the long run. Healthfirst offers Care Management Programs but they also partner with providers and reinvest into their members hospitals

Healthcare is an issue of great concern for everyone, everywhere. So when a particular company, organization or state program is offering this much help in coping with the challenges that we all face in healthcare, it needs to be mentioned. Hoorah for New York state and Healthfirst!

By Suzanne Leavittt

Sources:

United States National Library of Medicine, America’s Health Insurance Plans, HealthfirstNY.com