Mayor's 'NYC Care' Health Program Will Expand Into Queens

QUEENS, NY — The NYC Care program is expanding into Queens to help the borough's uninsured residents access primary care doctors and mental health services for low or no cost, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday.

The city-run program doesn't provide health insurance but rather steers uninsured New Yorkers to primary and specialty care services subsidized by the city.

Under the Queens expansion, which is scheduled to roll out by September, the city will hire new primary care providers, expand pharmacy hours and open a community clinic on the Jackson Heights-Elmhurst border geared toward COVID-19 survivors.

"COVID-19 exposed our city’s most painful disparities, including access to medical care," de Blasio said in a statement Tuesday. "By expanding NYC Care, we are tackling these inequities head on, and bringing affordable healthcare and mental health resources to the communities that need them the most."

NYC Care launched in August 2019 in The Bronx and is already available in Staten Island and Brooklyn. It is due to expand to Manhattan by September.

Among the services included in the program are primary and preventive health care, heart care, arthritis and joint care, bone care, foot care, weight loss, stomach pain, surgery and psychiatry.

To date, 22,705 New Yorkers have enrolled in the program, according to the mayor's office. New Yorkers must have lived in the city for at least six months to be eligible.

For more information, visit nyccare.nyc.