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To address workers’ concerns about the rising costs of health coverage, members of District Council 1707 and the Day Care Council of New York, in late September, approved a new labor contract for its approximately 2,700 members that upgrades their health plan option to MetroPlus, the high-quality, low-cost health care plan of the NYC Health + Hospitals. Workers will now have access to comprehensive health benefits, including prescription coverage, mental health services, and maternity care, as well as free wellness visits, for as little as $15 per month. This is the first union agreement that offers MetroPlus as the sole plan of choice for members and their families living in New York City.

Growing enrollment in MetroPlus is part of the city’s transformation plan to build a competitive, sustainable public health care delivery system, and the union’s selection of MetroPlus is another step toward NYC Health + Hospitals’ goal to have 675,000 MetroPlus members by the year 2020. Currently, MetroPlus is the health plan of choice for 503,000 New Yorkers.

“I am pleased that New York City’s day care workers have embraced our health plan, MetroPlus, as the best plan available, both for themselves and their family members, with the convenience of care available in all five boroughs,” said Dr. Ram Raju, President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals. “We welcome the opportunity and responsibility to care for these important workers, who in turn provide care for our city’s children.”

Under the new contract, two tiers of MetroPlus Gold Care coverage will be available to the day care workers living in New York City starting December 1, 2016. The MetroPlus Gold Care I tier offers premiums ranging from $15 per month for individuals to $60 per month for a family. This option includes no deductibles and co-pays of $20 for a primary care provider and $40 for a specialist, and a network of providers at 18,000 sites throughout the city’s five boroughs. MetroPlus Gold Care II offers a broader network of providers at 30,000 sites, with premiums that range from $89 per month for individuals to $253 per month for a family, with no deductibles and co-pays of $30 for a primary care provider and $50 for a specialist. Both tiers offer comprehensive benefits.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to show New York City’s day care employees what excellent care they will get through MetroPlus,” said Seth Diamond, chief operation officer of MetroPlus. “Our goal is to provide such service and value that this agreement paves the way for others down the road. Many New Yorkers need an affordable health plan option that offers high-quality care throughout our great city, and that’s what MetroPlus does.”

The agreement was lauded by both Day Care Council of New York Executive Director Andrea Anthony and DC 1707 Executive Director Victoria Mitchell. Read their quotes and other details in the ratified contract, which also includes salary increases and pension funding, in the press release issued by the City of New York.

Prior to the new agreement, only 53 percent of the union members were covered by the employer health plan.

Contact: Press Office, 212-788-3339

About MetroPlus

Over nearly 30 years, MetroPlus Health Plan has built a reputation for providing affordable, quality care to residents of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. A health services plan certified under Section 4403-a of the New York Public Health Law, MetroPlus is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health care organization in the country, MetroPlus provides managed care to nearly half a million eligible New Yorkers. In addition to Medicaid Managed Care, MetroPlus offers Child Health Plus, several Medicare Advantage Plans, a Special Needs Plan (SNP) for people with HIV and their families, a Long-Term Managed Care Plan, and over 40 NY State of Health Marketplace products with a total enrollment of 445,000. The company’s robust network of primary care doctors and specialists includes many independent community providers. Plan staff is drawn from the communities that MetroPlus serves and speaks more than seventy languages. MetroPlus has consistently been one of the top-ranked health plans in New York City for almost 10 years.

About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation. We are a network of 11 hospitals, trauma centers, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, and post-acute care centers. We are a home care agency and a health plan, MetroPlus. Our health system provides essential services to more than one million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the city’s five boroughs. Our diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. Visit us at nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.

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• Health Insurance
• MetroPlus