New York Health Insurance

How healthy is living in New York?

New York earned the #25 spot in the 2009 ranking of the healthiest U.S. states by the United Health Foundation.

The state's best and worst category rankings:

• High school graduation – 41
• Occupational fatalities – 8
• Infectious disease – 50
• Public health funding – 9
• Primary care physicians – 4
• Geographic disparity – 9
• Infant mortality – 9
• Cancer deaths – 8

See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on New York.

Does New York have a risk pool for the uninsurable?

New York does not have a state risk pool. The state has guaranteed-issue meaning all citizens will be accepted at the same premium regardless of their health. Thus New Yorkers are lucky to have access to health insurance that is much better than a risk pool (which almost always charges a higher-than-the-going-rate because it is made up of uninsurable people).

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, New York will offer health coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about New York's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

Cover The Uninsured's guide on finding health insurance in New York

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in New York and all other states.
• Its guide on how to find health insurance in New York.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown University's Guide to Health Insurance in New York

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations help fund its research. Learn more about the Health Policy Institute.

Review Georgetown's guide for New York.

USNews health insurance rankings for New York

US News does an annual ranking of what it considers the best health insurance plans in each state. Visit its reports on various health insurance or medical insurance plans being offered in New York.

Official State Goverment Sites with New York Health Insurance Information

New York State Government Health Insurance Information -- a long list of links to information published by the State of New York regarding health insurance and health care topics.

New York State Child Health Plus -- New York State has a health insurance plan for kids, called Child Health Plus. Depending on your family's income, your child may be eligible to join either Children's Medicaid or Child Health Plus .

Medicaid in New York State -- works in partnership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to assist in providing quality medical care for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and limited resources.

Health Care Advocacy Groups in New York

Community Service Society of New York – is committed to the goal of universal health coverage as the most fair and efficient method of achieving positive health outcomes for individuals and the greater community. In an effort to achieve this goal, CSS has launched a comprehensive campaign to provide access to affordable, quality health care coverage to the nearly 2.5 million New Yorkers who lack health insurance. Working with local partners, our aim is to build public will and advocate for significant government support to ensure that a plan for universal health coverage is in place by 2010.

Health Care for All New York – the statewide Consumer Voices for Coverage project seeking to achieve a commitment to provide affordable and comprehensive health coverage to all New Yorkers by 2010. The project’s strategy is to develop a set of standards that puts all universal health coverage proposals through rigorous scrutiny, providing an easily digestible comparison scorecard for both consumers and policymakers.

New York State Health Foundation – is an organization devoted to expanding health insurance coverage, increasing access to high-quality health care services, and improving public and community health. NYSHealth was established by the State of New York with charitable funds from the privatization of Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield.