Flushing Has NYC's Highest Uninsured Rate But No Public Hospitals

FLUSHING, QUEENS — The Flushing area has the highest rate of uninsured residents in New York City and no public hospitals to care for them, according to a new report.

More than 15 percent of residents in Queens Community District 7 — which includes Flushing, Murray Hill and Whitestone — have no insurance, the city's Independent Budget Office reports. But the district has no public hospitals, which treat patients regardless of ability to pay.

That's more than double the citywide uninsured rate of seven percent, the IBO says.

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The IBO report, which pulls from 2017 census data, comes ahead of the launch of NYC Care, a city-funded initiative to connect uninsured New Yorkers with primary care doctors in an effort to cut down on unnecessary emergency room visits.

Yet several neighborhoods with high rates of uninsured residents, like Flushing, have no public hospitals.

"Because NYC Care relies on using NYC Health + Hospitals facilities, the success of the initiative is dependent in part on accessibility," the report says.

Click here to read the full report.