Draft:MetroPlusHealth

MetroPlusHealth is a nonprofit health insurance organization based in New York City. It is a fully-owned subsidiary of NYC Health + Hospitals.

History
MetroPlusHealth was founded in 1985 as a nonprofit health insurance organization in East Harlem.

In 2019, Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that all NYC residents can access health care through the NYC Care program. NYC Care is a service provided through MetroPlusHealth and originally cost $100 million per year.

MetroPlusHealth opened new community offices in Flushing, Queens in 2021 and in Harlem in 2022.

Social Determinants of Health Initiatives
MetroPlusHealth has developed pilot programs and published studies addressing three Social Determinants of Health (SDH) pillars: housing, nutrition, and community and social contexts.

Housing
In 2019, MetroPlusHealth partnered with NYC Health + Hospitals and Comunilife NYC to create the Woodhull Residences in Brooklyn. This program provides affordable housing to low-income seniors and homeless individuals. The Woodhull Residences are part of the Housing for Health Initiative.

MetroPlusHealth is involved with additional housing initiatives, including the Queens Hospital T-Building, NYC Health + Hospitals Loretto II, and Staten Island Housing. These programs address housing insecurity due to research linking lower-quality health outcomes with housing affordability and homelessness.

Nutrition
In 2022, MetroPlusHealth began offering the In-Lieu-of-Services Medically Tailored Meals (ILS-MTM) pilot program. ILS-MTM connects people living with chronic illnesses to Registered Dietician Nutritionists who design meals according to enrollees' health needs.

Addressing Mental Health Challenges within AAPI Communities
Findings from MetroPlusHealth's community and social context studies include reports of disproportionate stress levels among women in Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities across NYC. This investigation was profiled in Newsweek and by Cheddar News.

LGBTQIA+ Awareness and Mental Health
In 2022, MetroPlusHealth published a study investigating higher stress levels seen in LGBTQIA+ populations compared to the average New Yorker. This investigation was profiled in Forbes.

Assistance for Asylum Seekers
In August 2022, Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent busses of over 6,000 asylum seekers to New York City. MetroPlusHealth assisted with the city’s response by partnering with other nonprofits to offer resources to those transported through Governor Abbott's initiative.

Maternal Mortality and Perinatal Mental Health Awareness
In May 2023, MetroPlusHealth released a study reporting on the mental health needs of mothers in New York City and nationwide. Their research showed gaps in access to mental health care and limited public awareness surrounding maternal mortality rates in the U.S.

COVID-19 Initiatives
During the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in 2020, MetroPlusHealth developed an SMS messaging campaign to contact members at higher risk of severe illness. This initiative was conducted in partnership with the NYC COVID-19 Rapid Response Coalition, Amazon, Bain & Company, and AirNYC.

MetroPlusHealth also used Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for telehealth registration to increase access to care during New York City’s initial lockdown period. This program had 7,000 enrollees.

MetroPlusHealth received the Pandemic Activation & Acceleration Award from Amwell for these efforts.

Ratings and Recognition
In 2020, MetroPlusHealth received an overall 5-star rating by the New York State Department of Health’s annual Consumer’s Guide to Medicaid and Child Health Plus Managed Care Plans. It received 4 stars overall in 2023 for its Medicare Advantage HMO D-SNP Plan according to U.S. News and World Report.

MetroPlusHealth received the Pandemic Activation & Acceleration Award from Amwell for outreach efforts to high-risk members during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

The Anthem Awards, a division of the Webby Awards that honors mission-driven projects, awarded MetroPlusHealth with one Bronze Award and two Silver Awards in 2023.