Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesUnder the deal reached by Mayor de Blasio, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, MetroPlus and Memorial Sloan-Kettering, New York City residents who were set to lose their coverage with Health Republic Insurance Plan will be able to continue their cancer care without interruption.
The collapse of the second-largest insurer on New York’s health care exchange won’t prevent cancer patients on the plan from continuing to get their treatment, City Hall announced Wednesday.
Under a deal reached Wednesday, patients getting care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who were set to lose their insurance with the Health Republic Insurance Plan will be able to continue their cancer treatment — through the city’s public hospital system. Health Republic Insurance of New York is slated to shut down at the end of the month due to financial insolvency.
The collapse left about 215,000 New Yorkers hurrying to secure new coverage — including 114 city patients in active cancer treatment at Manhattan’s Sloan Kettering.
Under the deal, the cancer center will accept MetroPlus, the insurance plan offered by the city Health and Hospitals Corp., for the patients already in treatment.
Normally, the renowned hospital does not accept any other insurer offered on the state health insurance exchange, created by Obamacare, besides Health Republic.
“The collapse of Health Republic left many New Yorkers scrambling to find new coverage and providers,” Mayor de Blasio said. “Today’s deal ensures that the most vulnerable of this group continue to receive high-quality treatment.”
Officials said that because MetroPlus is a cheaper insurance plan than Health Republic, patients will actually save money — paying $ 46 to $ 117 less per month for a silver level plan.
The special Sloan Kettering deal applies only to the current group of patients.
There are 20,000 city residents covered by Health Republic, and the rest also have the option to sign up for MetroPlus with its regular network.
“We want to make sure no New York City patient is left behind,” said Dr. Ram Raju, president of the Health and Hospitals Corp. “There’s no scarier time to lose health insurance than now, when these patients and their families are facing a cancer diagnosis and relying on the exceptional treatment available at Memorial Sloan Kettering.”
The state plans to automatically enroll Health Republic customers who don’t pick a new plan on their own into a comparable plan through the state exchange — but city officials warned that could come with higher premiums.
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