Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Monday, November 27, 2000

Release #443-00

 
Contact:

Sunny Mindel / Michael Anton (212) 788-2958

MAYOR GIULIANI LAUNCHES HEALTHSTAT
PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Hospital Association and Health Care Workers Union Sponsor Ad Campaign
Citywide Outreach Includes Ad Campaign, Phone Hotline and City Agency Initiatives

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today announced the launch of a Citywide advertising campaign and phone line to promote HealthStat, the City's comprehensive initiative to enroll children and families in existing health insurance plans. The $2 million advertising campaign is sponsored by the City of New York and the Healthcare Education Project, a partnership of 1199/SEIU, New York's Health and Human Service Union, and the Greater New York Hospital Association. The campaign slogan, "You Supply the Love, We'll Supply the Health Insurance", will appear in ads in English and Spanish, placed in subways, on buses and bus shelters, as well as in newspapers and on the radio.

Joining the Mayor for the announcement at the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management were 1199/SEIU President Dennis Rivera, Greater New York Hospital Association President Kenneth E. Raske, Deputy Mayor for Education, Planning and Cultural Affairs Anthony P. Coles, and Mayor's Office of Health Insurance Access Executive Director Anne Heller.

In addition to the advertising campaign, the Mayor announced the launch of a new automated touch-tone phone line -888-NYC-6116- that will pre-screen families for Medicaid and Child Health Plus eligibility and refer them to convenient community locations for enrollment. The phone line will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and counselors (English and Spanish speaking) will be available Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 8 PM, to assist callers.

"The goal of this campaign is to continue to expand our efforts to provide health insurance to all New York families," Mayor Giuliani said. "With the support of 1199/SEIU and the Greater New York Hospital Association, we will continue to make sure that families receive the insurance and the quality care they need. At the same time City agencies will continue their comprehensive efforts to assist eligible children and families to enroll in available health insurance programs."

"Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are eligible for health insurance programs like Child Health Plus and Medicaid but are not enrolled," said GNYHA President Kenneth E. Raske. "We are proud to be a partner in this initiative that will increase enrollment in these programs and save lives."

"Children and adults who have health insurance are far more likely to have a regular doctor and to get critically important preventive health care services," said 1199/SEIU President Dennis Rivera. "This campaign facilitates enrollment in the health insurance programs and promises to decrease the number of uninsured New Yorkers."

To date, HealthStat-with the participation of more than 20 City agencies-has conducted massive outreach, set up an extensive referral system, trained more than 5,000 City employees, and is currently expanding enrollment efforts. Outreach efforts through City agencies include: mailing or distributing more than 2 million informational flyers; placing 60,000 phone calls to families about child health insurance; and referring more than 36,000 families to health insurance enrollers.

The Mayor's Office of Health Insurance Access (MOHIA) has worked closely with a number of City agencies in order to coordinate these activities. Agency efforts include:

At the announcement, the Mayor also acknowledged the support of RiteAid, which will be displaying flyers and advertisements in all 157 RiteAid stores throughout the City.

In addition to co-sponsoring the ad campaign, GNYHA and 1199/SEIU will distribute thousands of HealthStat posters to hospitals and clinics throughout the City so that patients and visitors learn about HealthStat's hotline number. GNYHA is a trade association that represents 175 not-for-profit health care institutions in the metropolitan area. 1199/SEIU is the largest health care workers union in the State of New York, representing more than 200,000 service, professional, technical, and clerical workers, as well as registered nurses, employed in non-profit voluntary hospitals and nursing homes.

Announced by the Mayor on June 16th, 2000 HealthStat is a coordinated Citywide initiative to provide uninsured New Yorkers with health insurance. HealthStat mobilizes all City agencies to identify uninsured New Yorkers and assists them in enrolling in public health insurance programs. As a first priority, HealthStat focuses on enrolling eligible children in Child Health Plus. 1.5 million low income New Yorkers are uninsured, yet most of New York's uninsured children are eligible for health care.

Child Health Plus is a health insurance program that covers regular medical check-ups, dental visits, eye exams and eye glasses, mental health services, prescription drugs, hospital care and other services. Established by New York State and the federal government, Child Health Plus serves children with family incomes of up to 250% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL), or $35,400 per year for a family of three. In 2001, Family Health Plus, which provides health insurance to adults earning up to 150% of the FPL, is expected to become available and also will be a focus of HealthStat. Both Child Health Plus and Family Health Plus have substantially higher eligibility levels than Medicaid.


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