New York City Offers Health Care to Uninsured, Including Illegal Aliens - Mayor

15:32 GMT, 8 January 2019

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Some 600,000 residents of New York City now without health insurance will be assigned a primary care physician and be given access to specialists under a plan announced on Tuesday by Mayor Bill de Blasio.

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"We are going to guarantee health care for New Yorkers who need it," De Blasio told MSNBC. "We now have in New York City something that we can build on; we have a public [health care] option that we are ready to make much bigger".

The mayor specified that the plan would cover about 600,000 uninsured residents in the city, a number that includes illegal immigrants.

Health care has become a major political issue in the US, with Republicans lifting restrictions that have made many policies under a national system known as Obamacare unaffordable and prominent Democrats advocating a government-run national health system to replace Obamacare.

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The New York City plan, De Blasio explained, "Will literally say here’s a primary care doctor; here’s a person you can see who’s going to be your doctor on a regular basis".

The mayor added that participants will also be told how to get care from a specialist, such as an obstetrician/gynaecologist or mental health provider. De Blasio also said he will hold a press conference later on Tuesday to explain his plan in greater detail.