Heidi Hynes, Executive Director of the Mary Mitchell Family & Youth Center (MMFYC) which serves families in the Crotona and Fordham areas of the Bronx, says that many people in the community MMFYC serves do not realize they are eligible for insurance let alone understand how it works or how to apply.
The result is they wait until they are very ill and need to visit the Emergency Room (ER), leading to costly care and more time away from work and home than if they were treated earlier.
It is estimated that there are more than 70,000 eligible people in the Bronx who are “under-utilizers” of health care services available to them.
MMFYC is one of seven Bronx community organizations partnering in BPHC’s “Community Health Literacy” program to reach out to and connect people to insurance, local primary care providers and other community services.
“Ultimately, we want people to understand that they don’t have to wait until they are extremely sick and need the ER. They can go to their local clinic and see their PCP,” says Hynes.
Published February 23, 2017