NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Board of MetroPlus Health Plan today announced the appointment of Talya Schwartz, MD, as the health plan’s President and CEO. MetroPlus is the low-cost, five-star quality health insurance plan of choice for more than 500,000 New Yorkers. As the health plan owned by NYC Health + Hospitals, MetroPlus is a vital component of Mayor de Blasio’s Guaranteed Health Care plan to ensure health care for all New Yorkers. Dr. Schwartz, currently the Chief Medical Officer of MetroPlus, assumed her new position on May 10th. The five-star rated health plan is the health insurance plan of NYC Health + Hospitals and growing and strengthening the plan is part of the public health system's comprehensive, multi-year redesign to build a competitive, sustainable organization that will continue to offer high-quality and accessible health care to the people of New York City.

“On behalf of the board, I am delighted to announce Dr. Schwartz’s appointment as President and CEO,” said MetroPlus Board Chair Sally Hernandez-Piñero. “MetroPlus is the plan of choice for over half a million New Yorkers. We are confident Dr. Schwartz is the strong, clear-sighted leader we need to help ensure many more New Yorkers have access to affordable health services they deserve.”

“I am honored to assume this role to continue serving so many fellow New Yorkers in this new capacity in close collaboration with Health + Hospitals,” said Dr. Talya Schwartz. “MetroPlus has been providing coverage to all eligible New Yorkers, regardless of their situation, since 1985. I am proud of our long history of inclusive, person-centric, quality-driven care, and look forward to extending that care to many more City residents.”

Since 2016, Dr. Schwartz has served as Chief Medical Officer at MetroPlus, leading the Medical Management division including quality, case management, utilization management, pharmacy, network relations, provider contracting, credentialing, health analytics and various lines of business. Under her leadership MetroPlus ranked among the top plans in the State for quality. She transformed the care management program into a holistic, field-based program that now also addresses social determinants of health with special focus on housing for its homeless population. Additionally, the Plan became a state-designated peer certification program for HIV peers and has made great strides in engaging patients in their own care to achieve high levels of HIV suppression, results that have been presented at medical conferences at home and abroad.

Dr. Schwartz joined MetroPlus from the private sector. She has been a founding member of a behavioral health technology startup company and prior to that served in various leadership roles in regional and national health plans. Earlier in her career she worked as a strategic consultant at the Advisory Board Company, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, and served as a Fellow at the National Institute of Health.

Dr. Schwartz earned her medical degree from Sackler Medical School and a graduate certificate in Health Services Management and Leadership from the George Washington University. She completed her residency in Pediatrics at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, and worked as a pediatrician at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Dr. Schwartz replaces Arnold Saperstein, MD, who served as President and CEO of MetroPlus since 2006.

MetroPlus Enrollment Efforts

• Agency Partnerships - MetroPlus Health has developed partnerships with a number of city agencies, including the NYC Department of Probation and the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), to provide New Yorkers who interact with city agencies information about its affordable health insurance plan and encourage them to enroll. The new collaborations support the Executive Order signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in January requiring city agencies to enroll people in insurance anywhere where New Yorkers are directly served.
• Membership Growth – The health plan reached a 45 percent jump in membership for MetroPlus Gold, the special insurance option exclusively for New York City employees. More than 16,200 City employees and government retirees chose MetroPlus as their preferred health plan by the end of 2018, compared to 11,320 at the end of 2017. NYC’s public option health insurance plan also experienced a jump in membership on Staten Island by nearly 250% in one year. More than 5,200 Staten Islanders chose MetroPlus as their preferred plan of choice by the end of 2018, compared to 1,500 at the end of 2017.
• Outreach campaign - MetroPlus launched this month its latest public awareness campaign, “Health Care is Your Right. Not a Privilege.” The campaign can be seen through the end of June on subway cars, bus shelters near NYC/Health + Hospitals locations, ethnic and community-based print media, and featured at other venues across New York City, including Brooklyn Cyclones games. The ads will be available in eight languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Bengali, Haitian Creole, Polish and Russian.

MetroPlus Health Plan options and benefits

MetroPlus offers eligible New Yorkers a wide selection of health insurance options, with affordable fees and copays based on income and family size. The most popular plans include:

• Medicaid – low or no cost plan for low income children and adults up to 64 years old
• Medicare – low or no cost plan for adults 65 years old and above
• Child Health Plus – low or no cost plan for children under 19 regardless of immigration status
• Essential Plan – for adults 19-64 years old not eligible for Medicaid, offering monthly premiums of $0 - $20 based on income
• Qualified Health Plan – for eligible New York City residents, offering cost share reductions that lower significantly out of pocket costs
• Partnership in Care (HIV Special Needs Plan) – for children and adults who are New York City, Medicaid-eligible residents living with HIV/AIDS, or who are homeless or transgender
• MetroPlus Gold – for New York City employees and their families, with no premiums, no copays, no deductibles.

Special membership benefits include:

• Gym reimbursement – members of select plans and their spouses can save up to $1,000 in gym fees every year
• Member rewards program – members can earn points for completing health and wellness activities and redeem them for hundreds of popular items from the health plan’s catalogue.

Top Ranked Health Plan

MetroPlus earned an overall rating of five stars, the highest possible score, in theNew York State Department of Health’s recently released “2018 Consumer’s Guide to Medicaid and Child Health Plus Managed Care Plans in New York City.” The State’s guide is an annual rating of managed care plans on quality of care delivered and members’ satisfaction with the care and services they receive. MetroPlus is one of only two plans serving New York City to achieve the highest state rating this year.

More About MetroPlus Health Plan

Since 1985, MetroPlus Health Plan has built a reputation for providing access to affordable, quality health care to residents of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. A wholly-owned subsidiary of NYC Health + Hospitals, the nation’s largest public health system, MetroPlus is the plan of choice for over half a million New Yorkers. The health plan’s robust network of primary care doctors and specialists includes many independent community providers. Culturally sensitive, and fluent in more than 40 languages, MetroPlus staff is as diverse as the great city it serves. For more information about MetroPlus plans, benefits, and services, visit www.metroplus.org and join the conversation at facebook.com/metroplushealth and twitter @metroplushealth.