Month: June 2025
Progress for Primary Care
Primary care is the foundation of a cost-effective and high-quality health care system. However, one in three New Yorkers lives in a region with insufficient primary care access, and it’s far worse for rural communities and communities of color. Across the state, New Yorkers have to wait weeks or months to see a primary care doctor or nurse.
Our health care system is out of balance; less than 5 cents of every dollar we spend on health care goes to primary care doctors and nurses, even though they handle 1 in 3 health care visits.
The New York State Senate has acted to correct that by passing the Primary Care Investment Act. It will rebalance health care spending by allocating a greater percentage of what we spend to primary care.
We thank Senator Rivera for championing this policy and applaud the Senate for its leadership in recognizing that a healthier New York starts with strong primary care.
The New York Health Foundation is proud to have supported the Primary Care Development Corporation for its unwavering advocacy. We congratulate them and their coalition of supporters.
The New York Health Foundation also contributed by testifying, speaking out, and convening public events.
This legislation is meaningful progress. But there is still more work to do. Once the policy is fully enacted, New York will join nearly 20 other states in strengthening its primary care infrastructure, saving money, and improving health.
NYHealth Testimony on Increasing Self-Identification by New York City Veterans
NYHealth Senior Program Officer Derek Coy submitted the following testimony to the June 10, 2025, New York City Council Committee on Veterans Meeting on Oversight – Increasing Self-Identification by New York City Veterans.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) regarding self-identification among veterans. NYHealth is a private, independent, statewide foundation dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers, including more than 133,000 veterans who call New York City home.
My name is Derek Coy; I’m a Senior Program Officer at NYHealth and a proud veteran, having served as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps.
NYHealth’s work has consistently highlighted the health-related needs of New York’s veteran population, and one of the most persistent barriers to meeting those needs is how we identify—and fail to identify—veterans across service systems. When it comes to identifying veterans, too often we lead with the question: “Are you a veteran?” That may seem straightforward, but for many, it’s a barrier. Women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people of color, those who served during peacetime, and outside of combat zones or in non-traditional roles often don’t see themselves reflected in that label. Others may have been discharged under other-than-honorable conditions or carry stigma around their service.
To address this, we urge New York City to adopt a more inclusive and effective screening question—one that opens the door to care: “Have you or a family member served in the U.S. military?” We know from various state departments of veterans’ services “ask the question” campaigns as well as the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs that how we ask the question matters.[1] Veterans do not all look the same or identify in the same way. Critically, this question also captures caregivers and family members, many of whom play an essential role in a veteran’s care and may qualify for support services themselves.
Effective identification is not just a best practice—it’s a public health imperative.
The consequences of failing to identify veterans are significant:
- NYHealth’s recent analysis shows that veterans in New York City die by suicide at roughly twice the rate of civilians.[2]
- A 2023 RAND study, supported by NYHealth, found more than one-third of New York’s recently transitioned veterans didn’t know what services they were eligible for, and about one in four said they didn’t know where to go to access them.[3]
When we fail to identify someone as having served, we delay their access to health care, housing, mental health treatment, and suicide prevention services—many of which they earned through their service. When we fail to ask the right question, we fail to connect people with the care they’ve earned.
Currently, veteran identification practices vary widely across City agencies and community organizations. This inconsistency leads to inequitable access and weakens the impact of policies and programs intended to support veterans. Although some New York State agencies have begun adopting more inclusive veteran identification questions, broader implementation—particularly in New York City—remains fragmented and incomplete.
We recommend the City Council support the following actions:
- Adopt the use of inclusive veteran identification language. “Have you or a family member served in the U.S. military?” – across all City agency intake forms, service portals, and contracted provider systems.
- Incentivize and encourage adoption of this screening question in the private sector. This may include health centers, hospitals, housing providers, crisis response, workforce agencies, and legal intake settings.
- Train frontline staff across sectors. This helps to ensure staff understand who may count as a veteran, why identification matters, and how to make appropriate referrals.
This isn’t just about better data—it’s about recognizing the diversity of the veteran community, building trust, improving health outcomes, and ensuring that no veteran or family member goes unrecognized or unsupported in the city they call home.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify and for your commitment to New York City’s veteran community.
References
[1] “About.” Ask the Question. Accessed June 3, 2025. https://www.askthequestion.nh.gov/about.
[2] Cobbs, E. Coy, D. Ford, MM. Havusha, A. Sandman, D. 2024. “Navigating the Crisis: Deaths of Despair and Suicide Among New York City Veterans” New York Health Foundation. New York, NY. Available at: https://nyhealthfoundation.org/resource/nyc-deaths-of-despair-suicide/.
[3] Ringel, Jeanne S., Julia Lejeune, Jessica Phillips, Michael W. Robbins, Melissa A. Bradley, Joshua Wolf, and Martha J. Timmer, Understanding Veterans in New York: A Needs Assessment of Veterans Recently Separated from the Military. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3304-1.html. Also available in print form.
Pride Is Healthy
June is Pride Month for LGBT people. In recent years, it has become a mostly celebratory occasion, marking major policy wins like marriage equality, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and growing visibility and social acceptance.
This year is different. A backlash against LGBT rights and health is well underway — and it’s being accelerated by the Trump administration. As part of a broader campaign against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, attacks on LGBT people have gained political currency. Transgender people, in particular, have become the primary target.
The federal administration has eliminated more than $800 million worth of research into the health of LGBT people. This means the end of studies on cancers and viruses that disproportionately affect LGBT people, as well as research into antibiotic resistance, undiagnosed autism, and suicide prevention.
These cuts will setback progress in controlling and treating sexually transmitted infections. And it’s not just so-called “elite” or “woke” universities that are affected — grants have been canceled for public institutions like Ohio State and the University of Alabama. Florida State University lost a $41 million research grant aimed at preventing HIV among adolescents and young adults — a group that accounts for one-fifth of all new infections each year.
Historically, research grant cancellations have been rare, usually limited to cases of scientific misconduct. These cuts are ideological. They are now the subject of ongoing litigation.
While cuts to research happen behind the scenes, with long-term consequences, the attacks on transgender health are front and center. One of the administration’s early executive orders prohibits hospitals from providing gender-affirming care for youth. A bill passed by the House of Representatives would extend that ban to adults. And in an Orwellian twist, the FBI kicked off Pride Month by asking for tips from the public on “any hospitals or clinics who break the law and mutilate children under the guise of ‘gender affirming care.’”
Even before these recent actions, LGBT people faced health disparities. In New York City, for example, LGBT residents are more likely to experience mental health challenges. According to the City’s health department, 7% of heterosexual adults report serious psychological distress, compared with 12% of gay or lesbian adults. Among transgender adults, that number jumps to 21%. LGBT New Yorkers also experience higher rates of social isolation.
As New Yorkers get ready for Pride, there has been a sharp pullback by corporate sponsors. About a quarter of major sponsors for NYC’s Pride events have canceled or pulled back their support — including brands like Pepsi, Nissan, Mastercard, Citi, and PwC — wary of political backlash from the federal administration.
Pride might be smaller this year, but it should also be louder. It’s not a marketing event. It should be a protest against the harmful policies impacting LGBT health and wellbeing. We don’t need corporate swag; we need rigorous research, access to high-quality services, and policies that promote inclusion instead of discrimination.
That’s the true meaning of Pride. Because being proud is being healthy.