In her annual State of the City address today, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced plans for the expansion of the Brooklyn HealthWorks small business health insurance plan into Manhattan and Queens, with citywide expansion to follow.  The program, launched by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce in 2004, is a low cost health insurance program, which allows eligible small businesses to offer comprehensive health insurance to their employees with lower premium rates than other small group plans. 

Using the success of Brooklyn HealthWorks as a model, the Brooklyn Chamber will work with partners in Manhattan and Queens to implement similar programs for local businesses with 2 – 50 employees.  Brooklyn HealthWorks currently covers approximately 180 small businesses, including more than 850 employees and their dependents.  Queens may experience new enrollment upwards of 300 businesses per year while Manhattan may see upwards of 600 business enrollments because of the number of small businesses established there.

“Access to affordable health insurance is a concern of small businesses,” said Carl Hum, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.  “Speaker Quinn and the City Council recognize that the ability to offer health insurance is an important tool to help employers hire and retain qualified workers.  In the end, businesses thrive.”

This announcement will surely energize and ease the frustration of many New Yorkers in their efforts to secure health coverage for employees and their families.  In Brooklyn, the increasing cost of health insurance premiums have consistently ranked as one of the top three challenges to small business growth. 

“HealthWorks is priced right for many small businesses and their employees,” said Dean Mohs, executive director of Brooklyn HealthWorks.  “We are excited by the possibility of expanding this affordable option beyond Brooklyn.”

Brooklyn HealthWorks is a GHI health insurance plan that includes primary care, specialty care and pharmaceutical coverage.  Services are provided through a specially developed Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) and businesses with access to HealthWorks coverage are able to obtain care at over 142,000 provider locations throughout the tri-state area. 

The program has changed and grown over the years, but because of permanent funding streams – secured with the assistance of Brooklyn legislative leaders such as Assemblyman Joseph Lentol and Senator Marty Golden – the program continues to flourish.

For more information about the Brooklyn HealthWorks program visit http://www.brooklynhealthworks.com/.

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Carl Hum submitted an editorial to the Gotham Gazette that ran in the Feb. 19 edition regarding Speaker Quinn's announcement of the expansion of the Brooklyn Healthworks program. Click here to read the article.