Affinity Health Plan Exiting the New York State Marketplace

Lately, we have been reading more and more about how the healthcare industry is imploding throughout the country. As these changes take place, we find that New York is starting to get affected as well. In the last month, two New York health insurance companies have announced that they will be exiting the marketplace. Affinity Health Plan of New York and CareConnect Insurance Company Inc. both announced that they won’t be selling health plans in 2018. It’s also been speculated that Empire Healthcare will be exiting the market as well.

Here’s what you should know as an Affinity Health Plan of New York policyholder (if you currently have CareConnect, then follow this link

 

 Affinity Health Plan County Listing

Members of Affinity individual health insurance plans that were purchased through the New York State of Health Marketplace (NYSOH) will receive notices in the mail shortly about their exiting the market and the members’ need to select a new carrier.

Affinity operates and sells health insurance plans in the following New York counties:

• Bronx
• Kings (Brooklyn)
• Nassau
• New York (Manhattan)
• Orange
• Queens
• Richmond (Staten Island)
• Rockland
• Suffolk
• Westchester

 

Affinity Plan Listing

If you have an Affinity Medicare, Affinity Medicaid, or Affinity Essential Plan, this change will not affect you at the current time (we are waiting for additional information from Affinity as to how these markets will be affected).

The following HMO Plans will be discontinued on 12/31/2017:

• Access Bronze
• Access Silver
• Access Gold
• Access Platinum
• Access Catastrophic
• Access 2.0 Bronze
• Access 2.0 Silver
• Access 2.0 Gold
• Access 2.0 Platinum

 

Affinity Hospital List Vs. Other New York Health Insurance Carriers 

To many, what made Affinity Health Plan an attractive carrier is that they were affordable (compared to other carriers in the market) and their hospital network included the Hospital for Special Surgery, Mount Sinai and New York-Presbyterian.

For an insurance company, the larger the hospital listing, the more extensive the list of specialists. What makes hospital accessibility so important is that the majority of carriers don’t allow policyholders to receive services at hospitals that are not within their network, unless it’s for emergency care.

The complete Affinity Health Plan hospital list vs. other New York carriers is listed below.

Affinity

Aetna

Cigna

Emblemhealth

Excellus

Fidelis

HIP

MVP

Oscar

United Healthcare

Univera

Bronx

Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Calvary Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

North Central Bronx Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

NYC Health + Hospitals

X

X

X

X

St. Barnabas Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Kings

Brookdale University Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

Brooklyn Hospital Center

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Coney Island Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

Kings County Hospital Center

X

X

X

X

X

Mount Sinai Brooklyn

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

New York-Presbyterian – Brooklyn Methodist Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn

X

X

X

X

X

X

University Hospital SUNY Downstate

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Nassau

Catholic Health Services – St. Joseph Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Franklin Hospital

X

Glen Cove Hospital

X

X

Hospital for Special Surgery

X

X

X

X

X

Long Island Jewish Valley Stream

X

X

North Shore University Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

NYU Winthrop Hospital

X

X

Plainview Hospital

X

X

South Nassau Communities Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

St. Francis Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Winthrop University Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

New York

Lenox Hill Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

Mount Sinai Beth Israel

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Mount Sinai

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

New York-Presbyterian

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

NYC Health + Hospitals – Bellevue

X

X

X

X

NYC Health + Hospitals – Harlem

X

X

X

X

X

NYC Health + Hospitals – Metropolitan

X

X

X

X

Tisch Hospital – NYU Langone Health

X

X

X

X

X

X

Orange

Bon Secours Community Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

St Luke’s Cornwall Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

St. Anthony’s Community Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Queens

Flushing Hospital Medical Center

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Jamaica Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Long Island Jewish Forest Hills

X

X

Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens

X

X

X

X

X

X

New York-Presbyterian – Queens

X

X

X

X

X

North Shore University Hospital

X

X

X

X

NYC Health + Hospitals

X

X

X

X

X

St John’s Episcopal Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

Richmond

Staten Island University Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

Rockland

Good Samaritan Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Nyack Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Suffolk

Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center

X

X

X

X

Catholic Health Services – St. Charles Hospital

X

X

X

X

Eastern Long Island Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center

X

X

X

X

X

X

Huntington Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

John T. Mather Memorial Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Southampton Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

Southside Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

Stony Brook University Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

Westchester

Blythedale Children’s Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Montefiore Mount Vernon Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

New York-Presbyterian

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Northern Westchester Hospital Center

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Phelps Memorial Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

St. John’s Riverside Hospital

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

St. Vincent’s Westchester

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Stony Lodge Hospital

X

White Plains Hospital Center

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

 

Shopping for a Plan

As an Affinity Health Plan member, these are the main factors that should be considered when shopping for a health plan:

• Make sure that your existing doctors are participating in the network of the carrier you’re considering.
• Look closely at prescription coverage as well as the network of pharmacies to ensure that your prescriptions are covered.
• Try to match benefits as close to that of the amount of usage you expect to receive in the course of the year.
• Choose a plan with a robust hospital network.
• Make sure it’s a plan that you can afford.

 

Available Health Insurance Companies

The following carriers have plans available in the Affinity service network for 2018. For information on the specific plans available for each of the health insurance carriers listed below please contact Vista at (888)215-4045

	Affinity	Aetna	Cigna	Emblemhealth	Fidelis	HIP	MVP	Oscar	United Healthcare
Bronx	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Kings	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Nassau	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
New York	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Orange	X	X	X	X	X	X	X		X
Queens	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Richmond	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Rockland	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Suffolk	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Westchester	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X

 

Affinity Pharmacy Network

Below is a listing of the largest national pharmacies participating in the Affinity Pharmacy network Vs. that of the New York Health Insurance Companies

	Affinity	Aetna	Cigna	Emblemhealth	Fidelis	Health first	HIP	MVP	Oscar	United Health Care
Albertsons Savon					x			x	x	x
CVS	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Duane Reade	x	x	x	x	x		x	x	x	x
Good Neighbor	x	x				x			x	x
Hannaford	x	x	x	x	x		x	x	x	x
Kinney Drugs	x	x		x	x		x	x	x	x
Kmart	x	x	x	x			x	x	x
Price Chopper	x	x	x	x	x		x	x	x
Rite Aid	x	x		x	x		x	x	x	x
Safeway	x	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x
Stop & Shop		x		x	x		x		x
Tops Friendly Markets				x			x		x	x
Walgreens	x	x	x	x	x		x	x	x	x
Walmart	x	x		x	x		x	x	x	x
Wegmans		x		x			x	x	x	x

 

Moving Forward

All affinity plans listed above will expire on 12/31/17. The marketplace opens 11/1/17 and runs through 12/15/17 for a 2018 effective date. This provides a bit of time for you to assemble a list of your current doctors and hospitals that you would like to see in-network and a detailed listing of prescription coverage including amounts and whether they are generic or brand name.

For an instant quote, please use our comparative shopping tool or feel free to contact one of our knowledgeable New York health insurance representatives at our toll-free number (888) 215-4045.