Mayor Announces Health Care Program for All New Yorkers

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Jan. 8 a health care plan to cover an estimated 600,000 residents, including undocumented residents. The announcement was first made on MSNBC's Morning Joe, and later that same day at the Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx. "About 600,000 New Yorkers who do not have any health care coverage at all ... have no where to turn—except the emergency room, which is exactly the last place we want to see people go," said de Blasio at the Lincoln Medical Center. According to de Blasio many residents are uninsured, meaning they must resort to the emergency room for treatment and the city's money is not well spent for this reason. He said giving people the primary care they need and helping them avoid the emergency room will help the financial burden for patients. The mayor touted the program as a step toward universal health care.