When hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are at risk of losing coverage, what can a city actually do? And where does your responsibility begin, and where do you just not have the resources to replace what the federal government has taken away?

Yeah.

First of all, thank you for having me on, Joel.

And to put it bluntly, what this bill is going to do for health coverage in this city is nothing short of bureaucratic violence.

It is a way of curtailing health coverage for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

Our estimates internally here suggest that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers could potentially lose their health coverage, up to nine hundred thousand New York City residents.

Because of these work requirements, uh, because of these extra provisions, for instance, shortening the period of time that someone can retroactively be, uh, enrolled in Medicaid, because of the way that this is chipping at the, the underlying foundation of health coverage, I m deeply, deeply, deeply concerned.

Can you tell us where that stands right now, and if there are community mental health navigators in place?

Uh, how did you get here, uh, and how did those past experiences prepare you for your current role?

Absolutely.

Well, my story starts, Rob, in a little place called Jackson Heights in Queens.

Uh, my mother raised me in my early childhood there, and, um, my mom, uh, really is the, the hero and, uh, model of, for me, what it means to serve people.

Uh, she, uh, was a, a public school teacher.

She was a, a United Nations, uh, consultant, uh, and also eventually became a, a nurse, uh, doing a program called Nurse Family Partnership.

And I think those early experiences watching my mom take care of, um, young, uh, women, uh, who for, for many of them, uh, they were first-time mothers, um, you know, really taught me the importance of public health without me even knowing it.

And what, what have you heard from those partners so far? Obviously, or I shouldn't say obviously, but I assume they, uh, share some of your concerns, and I'm curious h- what they're asking of you.

Help listeners square that.

Absolutely.

Let's first talk about where we are in this investigation, Brian.

So this all kicked off on July 2nd, about two weeks ago, as you've mentioned, where we had our first two confirmed cases.

Now, the good news is, Brian, we caught it early, we moved quickly, and we have not stopped since.

And where we are right now, uh, is fewer people are getting sick each day, Brian.

Over half of the people who were hospitalized have been discharged, and that epi curve is resolving.

So why not do it that way?

Boy, you really did your homework.

That's right.

That's right.

Well, look, we love data as well here in the agency, and we are not going to stop using that data to make sure that we deliver for New Yorkers, um, in every single part of the city and making sure that we stay committed to our work, uh, with regard to health equity.

Let me give you a, a story.

Just this last, uh, Sunday, uh, Brian, I was with one of our doulas, uh, who, um, is part of our By My Side doula program.

Her name is, uh, Masada.

Dr. Martin, talk to former Assembly Member Gottfried.