Family Health Plus, when fully implemented, will extend Medicaid coverage to families with incomes up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level and to childless individuals with incomes up to the federal poverty level. Stemming the growing numbers of uninsured is essential to maintaining the viability of the health care delivery system, especially the primary care system. While the insurance programs included in HCRA 2000 are significant, even the most optimistic projections expect that over 2 million New Yorkers will not be covered by the programs. FHP and the state's Child Health Plus program provide useful models for expanding coverage. We have seen important progress during the past decade.
More physicians are available in New York's poorest neighborhoods.
Basic indicators of accessibility and quality, such as 24-hour coverage, hospital admitting privileges, and board certification, occur more frequently. The academic medical community, responding to incentives created by state policy on graduate medical education, increased its emphasis on primary care. Yet excessive shortages persist.