(Source)
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city will guarantee health care for all the city’s 600,000 uninsured people, including undocumented immigrants.
De Blasio said the city will do so through MetroPlus, the health insurance arm of the municipal health system, allowing people to buy into the plan as the “NYC public option.” For people who can’t afford to buy into that public option or who are ineligible for insurance, the NYC Care program will provide cards to receive medical care at the public health system for free.
It is unclear how that coverage will differ from the products sold by MetroPlus on the state’s health insurance exchange or the Medicaid plans it offers.
“From this moment on in New York City, everyone is guaranteed the right to healthcare,” De Blasio said Tuesday at a press conference at NYC Health and Hospitals/Lincoln in the Bronx.