Brooklyn's Progress
August 2002

Access to high quality, affordable health care is good for the Borough, its businesses and all of its residents. For the past two years, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with GHI, many of the Borough’s health care providers, elected officials and community leaders to develop a program that will make health care more accessible and affordable. The program is called Brooklyn Health Works. The Brooklyn Health Works Program will have several components. The first is a pharmacy discount card that will be distributed under the name Brooklyn HealthWorRx. The card is administered by Express Scripts, one of the nations largest independent pharmacy benefit management companies. Express Scripts manages prescription needs of one out of every six individuals in the United States. . For a nominal annual fee, $10 for individuals and $25 for families, card-holders will be entitled to an average of 40% discount on popular prescription medicines. Over 150 pharmacies throughout Brooklyn will participate in the program. Participants must meet certain income eligibility criteria to join. Applications for the Brooklyn Health WoRx card will be available in late-August 2002 at participating hospitals and health centers, Community Board offices and other venues. Currently, distribution is limited to a demonstration area consisting of the communities of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Crown Heights, East New York, Fort Greene, Greenpoint, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, and Williamsburg. For more information, contact Mr. Mark Kessler at 718-875-1000, extension 121. A web site listing all distribution points will be posted in late August. Watch for the link on the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce site at www.ibrooklyn.com The second component of the Brooklyn HealthWorks Program is a health insurance plan for small businesses and their employees that will be distributed under the name Brooklyn HealthWorks. This is a GHI health insurance plan that will offer affordable health insurance to qualifying small businesses and their employees in the same eight-community demonstration area. The plan is slated for release in late 2002 or early 2003. Planning and development resources for the Brooklyn HealthWorks program have been made possible by grants of over $2,000,000 procured on behalf of the Borough from such sources as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), the United Hospital Fund, New York Community Trust, and The Sirus Fund.