About Us

Mission

New Yorkers’ health-related needs are daunting. We have a health care system that is designed to treat acute conditions rather than complex, chronic ones. Health care costs continue to rise. Many people lack access to high-quality, efficient care. Rates of obesity, diabetes, smoking, and substance abuse are too high. The New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth) cannot solve all these problems, but our three-part mission addresses some of the most important among them. This mission provides the focus for our grantmaking.

Expand Health Insurance Coverage

Some 2.2 million people across the State—14% of New Yorkers—do not have health insurance. That means they do not obtain the less expensive primary care they need, which would help avoid more costly treatments for preventable illnesses. Approximately 900,000 of the uninsured are eligible for, but not enrolled in, public insurance programs, and about half of the uninsured work for small businesses or are self-employed.

That is why expanding health insurance coverage is an important part of our mission. Beginning in 2007, we devoted $20 million to expanding coverage over five years.

Increase Access to High-Quality Health Care Services

Part of NYSHealth’s mission is to advance efforts that improve efficiency and quality, ultimately leading to better health care access for all New Yorkers. This is especially critical for people who have serious chronic conditions—like diabetes—that require ongoing management by both providers and patients. Yet many people with diabetes—or patients at risk of getting it—lack access to prevention and management services. An estimated 1.1 million New Yorkers have been diagnosed with diabetes, and an additional 430,000 adults with diabetes remain undiagnosed. The prevalence of diabetes also is on the rise, more than doubling in the last decade, and it is the only chronic condition that continues to increase. NYSHealth selected diabetes as a starting point to address health care access issues because of the scope, magnitude, and rise of the disease. Focusing on diabetes as a “wedge” issue allows NYSHealth to improve overall primary care access and to address the daunting and related public health crisis of obesity. Beginning in 2007, NYSHealth committed $35 million over five years to reversing the epidemic of diabetes in New York State.

Improving Public and Community Health

From Rochester to Syracuse to Cooperstown and the five boroughs of Manhattan, New Yorkers’ health needs are as diverse as its population. In some locales, the significant health problem is asthma—diagnosis rates are particularly high in the Bronx, Monroe County, Albany, and some rural areas, for example. In other locations, people need affordable dental care, adult day services, or psychiatric crisis intervention.

Our mission to improve the overall health of New York communities includes informing and educating New Yorkers about public health issues, including preventive services, promoting healthy behavior and lifestyles, and public policy and health service delivery issues that can improve health outcomes. This mission goal cuts across all of our work.

Adhering to our threefold mission, we will use our resources to engage people and organizations throughout the State in working together to help more New Yorkers obtain health insurance and receive the quality health care they need.