Coverage
Every health coverage option available to New Yorkers — Medicaid, the Essential Plan, Child Health Plus, Medicare, marketplace plans, NYC Care — and who qualifies for which.
New York has more coverage options than almost any state, and that is exactly why people end up uninsured here: the door you need is open, but nobody tells you which door it is.
Three facts decide most of the answer: your household income against the federal poverty level, your age, and your immigration status. Everything below is organized around those three.
Start with the shortest path
If you want the answer before the reading, the eligibility navigator asks five questions and shows which programs are open to you. It runs in your browser, stores nothing, and links to the page for each program it names.
If you prefer the numbers directly: every 2026 income threshold, by household size.
The programs, by who they are for
Low income, any age — Medicaid. The broadest coverage in the state and the only one that covers long-term care. Roughly 138% of the federal poverty level for working-age adults, substantially higher for pregnant patients and children. Applications accepted every month of the year.
Ages 19–64, income up to 200% FPL — the Essential Plan. $0 monthly premium, no deductible, comprehensive benefits. Also year-round. Its upper tier was eliminated on July 1, 2026, which moved roughly 360,000 people to marketplace plans — what that means if you were among them.
Children under 19 — Child Health Plus. Covered regardless of immigration status, at family income limits well above the adult thresholds. Many households that qualify for nothing as adults qualify for their children.
Above the Essential Plan line — a marketplace plan through NY State of Health, with tax credits applied in advance to the premium. This is the one with a season: open enrollment runs November 1 to January 31.
65 and older — Medicare, on its own calendar: October 15 to December 7.
Uninsured with no path to insurance — NYC Care. Not insurance: access to the city’s public hospital system, with no immigration requirement and no income cutoff for membership. 1-646-NYC-CARE.
Union households — union plans work differently again, with their own networks and their own rules at the front desk.
The thing most people get wrong
Assuming they don’t qualify. New York’s rules are broader than most states’, and the single application at NY State of Health screens for everything at once. Most people who “know” they earn too much have never entered their actual numbers into an actual application.
Second most common: using last year’s income. Eligibility runs on projected income for the current year, and pre-tax deductions reduce the figure programs measure. See MAGI.
After you pick a program, pick a network
On Medicaid, the Essential Plan and Child Health Plus, the state sets the benefits and they are identical across carriers. What differs is which doctors are in network — and that is the decision you feel every time you book an appointment. How to check it in an hour.
If none of this arrives in time
Coverage is the long fix. If you are holding a bill right now, hospital financial assistance works on its own timeline: New York caps what an uninsured patient can be charged, immigration status may not be considered, and you can apply after the bill — including after it goes to collections.
Which Health Program Are You Likely Eligible For in New York?
Answer five questions and see which New York health coverage programs are open to you — Medicaid, the Essential Plan, Child Health Plus, NYC Care, marketplace plans. Runs in your browser.
2026 Income Limits for Every New York Health Program
Every income threshold that decides eligibility in New York in 2026 — Medicaid, Essential Plan, hospital financial assistance, NYC Care — in one table, by household size, with sources.
The Essential Plan in New York: Who Qualifies and What It Covers
$0 monthly premium, no deductible, and no open enrollment window. Who the Essential Plan is for in 2026, what changed on July 1, and how to apply.
NYC Care: Who Qualifies, What It Covers, What It Doesn't
NYC Care gives uninsured New Yorkers access to NYC Health + Hospitals regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. What it is, what it isn't, and how to join.
Medicaid in New York: Who Qualifies, How to Apply, How to Keep It
New York's Medicaid rules are broader than most states'. Who qualifies, how the application works, and the renewal mistake that costs people their coverage.
Open Enrollment in New York: Dates, Deadlines and What to Do
Open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs November 1 to January 31, with December 15 as the cutoff for a January 1 start. What applies to whom — and which programs ignore the season entirely.
Buying Coverage on NY State of Health: A Walkthrough
How New York's marketplace works: what one application decides, how premium tax credits get paid in advance, and how they settle when you file taxes.
Free and Low-Cost Health Coverage in New York City
Every program in New York City that costs nothing or close to it: Medicaid, the Essential Plan, Child Health Plus, NYC Care, health centers and hospital aid.
Child Health Plus: Coverage for Kids in New York
Child Health Plus covers children under 19 in New York regardless of immigration status, with family income limits far above the adult ones. How to apply.
Medicare in New York: What the Fall Season Actually Decides
Medicare's annual enrollment runs October 15 to December 7, 2026. What you can change in that window, what it does not touch, and how dual eligibility works.
You Just Lost Coverage: The First Week
Job loss, turning 26, a move, a divorce — each opens a 60-day window. What to do in the first days, and which New York programs ignore the calendar entirely.
Carriers
Healthfirst, Fidelis Care, MetroPlus and EmblemHealth — the companies behind New York's coverage programs, and how to tell which network fits you.
Union Plans
Union health coverage in New York follows different rules from marketplace plans: its own network, its own administrator, and a different question to ask at the front desk.