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This is Laura Diet with the Becker Healthcare

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podcast.

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I'm thrilled today to be joined by Aaron

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Drink water, Chief of government Relations and strategic

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partnerships at Metro plus Health. Aaron, it's a

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pleasure to have on the podcast today?

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Thanks so much. My I excited it to

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be here.

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No, I'm really looking forward to our conversation

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and learning more about hiring thinking about a

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future at Metro plus, But before we dive

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in, I was wondering, could you tell us

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a little bit more about yourself in your

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background?

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The Absolutely.

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I joined the team at Metro plus,

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Almost 2 years ago. It'll be 2 years

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in September.

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And prior to that, I work

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at New York city's Department of Social Services,

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which was... There is the umbrella agency over

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New York City's, human resources

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administration and the Department of Homeless Services.

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And so in that role, really focused on

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12 public benefits,

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that are administered in the city of New

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York, as well as,

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the shelter system, for those of you who

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are listening who are not aware in New

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york City,

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has a right to shelter.

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And so on any given night,

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we provide shelter for individuals and families who

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otherwise have no place to turn to provide

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you know, a safe roof over their head.

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And when the opportunity to join Metro plus

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came along,

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I was really excited about the opportunity.

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Metro plus Health is a provider owned plan,

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but unique in that space is that we

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are owned by the city's municipal hospital system.

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So we are an integrated system,

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working closely with

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nation's largest municipal hospital system to provide,

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free and low cost healthcare

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to individuals living in the 5 borough of

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New York City. And in addition to our

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health and hospitals partners, we also have a

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wide network of providers who exist in our

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network,

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some local institutions like mom,

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and why you land own, Mount Sinai, among

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others

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34000

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providers are in our network.

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And we're serving

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approximately 700000

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New Yorkers across all of our lines of

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business. So excited to be here today and

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talk a little bit about our work and

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looking forward to our focus for the future.

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Well, that's great to hear. And, you know,

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given your focus in the work you're doing

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at Metro plus health, what are some of

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the biggest trends and headwind that you're following

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right now? What's top of mind for you?

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Yeah. That's a great question.

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So we are always looking at the members

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that we are currently serving and enrolled with.

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We have placed

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significant effort into ensuring that our members are

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being rec certified as the public health emergency.

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Continues to unwind and making sure really that

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our members are informed about their

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obligations

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in terms of rec

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can make sure that there's not a lapse

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in their benefits.

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1 of the things that I do in

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my role is I advocate at the City

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state and federal level in regard to pending,

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you know, legislation, rules or regulations that impact

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the delivery of health care as well as

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the insurance sector.

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Something really exciting happened this past legislative

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session in New York as it relates to

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red,

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which is that in New York state now

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if you are enrolled in Medicaid or chip

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as an individual who is 0 to 6

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years old.

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Those families will not have to rec certify

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every year. This is great in terms of

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the burden that is place on families as

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it relates to, you know, maintaining their health

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care coverage, but it's also great for the

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state in removing you know, administrative costs that

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the state has to incur for those red.

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We very much see this as a first

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step,

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we recognize that the state has a lot

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of discretion in terms of making the access

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to benefits easier and reducing bureaucratic burdens for

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families and individuals as they access health coverage.

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That makes a lot of sense. And you

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know, really is helpful to know and think

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about especially on the level. I I know

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things and and policies can change all the

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time, but to have that ability,

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you know, to really work it and move

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forward,

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you know, within those community is so helpful.

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And, you know, given that, how are you

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thinking about growth and development for the future?

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Yeah. Thank you for the question. You know,

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we are looking at our various populations and

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lines of business. We, you know, are looking

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at the supplemental benefits that we're able to

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offer our members

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We in New York City are 1 of

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3

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Hiv Snip plans, special need plans, and we're

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really proud of the work that we've done

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with that line of business. This is for

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individual to are eligible for Medicaid,

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but also have,

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Hiv

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diagnosis

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and or are experiencing homelessness

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or transgender,

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and those individuals have

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additional case management, but also

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additional benefits

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in the supplemental

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portion of their benefits. And we're looking at

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this across all of our lines within this

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We

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have exciting news in regards to our food

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as medicine program,

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really,

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honing in on the importance of Food Medicine,

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recognizing the,

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outcomes for our members as it relates to

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their health outcomes, but also looking at,

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The cumulative effect of reducing health care costs

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overall.

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So we're really excited about that and from

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my point of view, I oversee a community

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relations staff and as we think about growth

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and expansion what's really important for us here

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at Metro plus. Is ensuring that we're a

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plan that is representative and really responsive to

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the needs of New Yorkers.

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And what that means is

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being sure that our provider network is reflective

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of

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the the demographics of New York City,

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we know that people are more inclined to

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seek out medical care when they feel safe

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when they have a trusted relationship with their

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provider and that can extend and to things

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like

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making sure a provider can speak their language

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In New York city, we have over a

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hundred different languages spoken. And so ensuring that

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our network is reflective of our membership. And

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that we have language access availability

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across our providers. Not only that, but recognizing

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that

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many of our providers also

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reflect a diversity of New York city in

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terms of race and ethnicity and things like

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that,

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gender.

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And so as we are doing work to

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expand our membership, the work that my team

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is doing on the ground in communities across

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New York and really

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building relationships and hearing firsthand,

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what the community needs and how we can

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respond to those needs,

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you know, when we talk about things like

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outcome gaps and access to care. We know

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that people who are closest to the problem

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are also closest to the solution. And so

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really engaging with our communities

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across the city and hearing from them, what

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are the challenges for accessing healthcare. What are

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the barriers that they're experiencing? Is it

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transportation? Is it less of language access, is

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it office hours. There are so many reasons

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why somebody

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may be having difficulty

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establishing care and maintaining care over time and

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so part of the work that my team

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is doing is to really listen to those

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concerns and be responsive.

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That's amazing to hear in what powerful important

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work that you're doing in the ability to

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engage communities and take their feedback to heart

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and provide the services as you mentioned that

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are really truly needed and desire

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such an important aspect of closing goes gaps

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and care in and eliminating health disparities.

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Before I wrap up here, I was wondering,

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could you tell me about a project or

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initiative from the last year or so that

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yielded the best results?

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Absolutely. 1 of the things that we're super

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proud of here at Metro plus is bringing

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our behavioral health services

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in house.

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We had previously

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been

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contracting those services.

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And what we realized with that by bringing

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them in house, we were able to provide,

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integrated services to our members.

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Know, we hear a lot in the media,

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the concerns and challenges

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around

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gaining access to important behavioral health services,

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both in the way of, you know,

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day to day, therapy

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and access to therapy, as well as

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you know, more

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impactful

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services for individuals with, you know, severe and

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persistent behavioral health diagnosis.

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We have seen some really good outcomes

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in the short time that we've had, the

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behavioral health program in health.

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1 of the things that we've done for

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really again, build on what we're hearing from

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our clients and our members

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is having a very strong peer network in

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our behavioral health work and that is proving

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to be

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very positive in terms of the outcomes that

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we're seeing for our members. So we're gonna

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continue to focus on that and to build

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that out we serve New Yorkers and their

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behavioral health.

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That's amazing to hear. Aaron, thank you so

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much for joining us on the podcast today.

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This has been nice extremely informative,

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conversation, and I look forward to connecting with

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you again soon. My pleasure. Thank you so

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much for having me.