NUMC program aims to get health care for unemployed

Nassau University Medical Center is reaching out to Long Islanders who have lost their job, or whose unemployment benefits have run out, to help them get health care coverage.

Through the Helping Hand program, the East Meadow hospital will assist anyone without health insurance to enroll in government-funded health care programs if they qualify; if they don't, they can get health care at NUMC-associated centers on a sliding scale based on their income, said Arthur Gianelli, chief executive of NuHealth System. NuHealth includes NUMC, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility and four family health centers.

Gianelli said he was prompted by a recent Newsday story that said 6,000 Long Islanders had exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits.

"I think we have an obligation as a public hospital when the public is in need to offer a helping hand," he said.

Kevin Dahill, chief executive of the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, said other Island hospitals sign up patients for government programs and offer health care on a sliding scale. The difference, Dahill said, is that NuHealth is "trying to welcome people. . . . They are really trying to do outreach. It's a noble effort."

The program is an expansion of NuCare, which provides care to uninsured Nassau residents at NuHealth's health centers, said Diane Cohen, NuCare's director.

Through NuCare, people are assigned a NuHealth primary care physician and given a NuCare health insurance card. Participants can stay with the program as long as they want.

If someone is eligible for a government program, premiums and co-pays are low or nonexistent, said John Sherman, NuHealth's director of revenue cycle management. For a family of four who don't qualify for a government program, visits can range from $15 to $75, Sherman said.

Helping Hand is a way for families to maintain their health care during trying times, Cohen said. "It is really for people who are unemployed and haven't been in this situation before," she said.

Gwen O'Shea, chief executive of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, said NuHealth's outreach should be especially useful for childless couples or single people who don't qualify for government programs.

Anyone interested can call 516-296-CARE.