Navigating $0 Healthcare - Insights from Max Hadler, Director of Immigration at NYC DOHMH

New York's Essential Plan, a $0 health insurance initiative powered by New York State of Health, offers comprehensive coverage to eligible residents, encompassing vital services such as emergency care and mental health support. International students can confidently apply for the Essential Plan without concern for any impact on their immigration status, as the program is entirely state-funded, ensuring the confidentiality of immigration details from federal authorities.

We at Kimber Health understand that this is a major concern for many individuals, and to address our clients' worries, we set up an interview with Max Hadler, Director of Immigration and Policy Initiatives at New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Here are some of the key points that we discussed!

Why is the Essential Plan $0?

"The Essential Plan is a public health insurance plan that is subsidized by the government, and the reason for the existence of these programs is to help people access services regardless of the resources that they have. Everyone needs access to health services. Limiting the barriers to accessing services is a very important priority of ours and of other partners in the government. And in order to be able to do that, we need to find ways to reduce barriers. So, making sure people can enroll in health insurance at no cost, making sure that those services are available in languages to people..."

Does it affect my immigration status?

"No, there is no impact of enrolling in the Essential Plan to an application for permanent residency, or to any other immigration-related application, which is why we encourage everyone who's eligible to enroll, and everyone should enroll."

"All this is very complicated, which is why there is a lot of free help available to enroll in health insurance, so we encourage people to, whether they know they're eligible or not, to seek out a lot of the different resources across the city, across the state."