‘Doctors to the people’ would bring health care to low-income patients, under plan by NYC mayoral candidate Ray McGuire
New York City would set up two mobile doctors’ clinics in each borough to tackle the dire health care inequities exposed by the COVID pandemic, according to a plan proposed by mayoral candidate Ray McGuire.
The roaming medical buses could visit as many as 60 locations per borough every month under the plan to provide routine checkups and other services by NYC Health + Hospitals professionals in underserved communities, McGuire’s policy adviser, Anthony Hogrebe, told the Daily News on Sunday.
The “Doctors to the People” fleet would focus on communities with the least health care coverage, starting with NYCHA buildings, and enroll people without insurance in the city’s “NYC Care” program that connects low-income people with primary care, Hogrebe told the News.
“There are likely to be long-term health impacts of the pandemic, and we have just started to scratch the surface of what those look like,” Hogrebe said. “The only way you’re going to manage that kind of public health challenge is getting New Yorkers actually connected to ongoing health care.”
Buying and outfitting the fleet of buses would cost about $10 million, he said. As with other parts of his platform, McGuire, a former vice chairman of Citigroup, would look to the private sector for support on public health.
With more than 8% of New Yorkers under age 65 lacking health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, McGuire wants to work with Albany to boost enrollment in the state’s “Essential Plan” offering medical coverage for $20 per month.
He would grant access to anyone who has had COVID-19 and raise the income cutoff for eligibility.
He also promised to partner with private health care providers on apprenticeships that would move more doctors into minority communities.
Rival candidates have rolled out a variety of proposals on boosting public health, from former Obama big Shaun Donovan’s call for a city-backed insurance option to former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia’s promise to boost investment in community health centers.
The mayoral primaries are scheduled for June 22. The winner of the Democratic contest is all but certain to cruise to victory in the November general election.
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