Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NY orders health plans to collect info on race, sexual orientation, gender
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Sep 10, 2024
Modified Sep 10, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
By
Caroline Lewis
Published Sep 10, 2024
Modified Sep 10, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New Yorkers could soon get questionnaires from their health insurers asking for their race, ethnicity, gender, preferred language and sexual orientation as part of a state initiative that seeks to address disparities in health care.
State officials are proposing a new rule Tuesday that would require health insurance plans to collect demographic details as they sign people up for insurance or renew their coverage, although the information would be optional for New Yorkers.
The goal of collecting this data is to make it easier for insurers to identify the needs of the different communities they serve and address any gaps in access to care, according to Adrienne Harris, superintendent of the state Department of Financial Services, which regulates New York’s private health plans.
But Harris also acknowledged that such information could be misused and is including language in the draft regulations that aims to safeguard against insurance discrimination and various types of data sharing.
“When people do health equity policy, they really focus on the public plans, Medicare and Medicaid,” Harris said. “There isn't as much focus on the commercial insurance market, which I thought was really a missed opportunity.”
Harris said the data could help insurance providers identify situations in which a particular group is not using all the health care services available to them and try to determine why that is. The data could help reveal if there are not enough health care providers with certain language skills or cultural competencies in a health plan’s network, Harris said.
Another scenario? “If we're finding people aren't accessing primary care because they don't have good broadband and they can't take advantage of telehealth,” Harris said. “There’s all sorts of things we could do.”
Health plans could also use the data to proactively beef up services to meet the needs of their members, said Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York. She says her nonprofit has been advocating for the state to implement a measure like this for years.
“Say you have a large enrolled population of African American women of childbearing age in a section of Brooklyn, right? Then the carrier could do a better job of figuring out if they have adequate labor and delivery services available,” Benjamin suggested.
City and state officials are currently working to address persistent racial disparities in maternal health outcomes.
The demographic data would also be shared with the Department of Financial Services upon request.
Harris said after taking office in 2021, she surveyed commercial health plans to find out what they were already doing to address disparities in health outcomes among their members.
“What came back was mostly [information about] philanthropic efforts,” Harris said. “So, really good stuff, but not systematic, not robust, not consistent across the industry.”
Harris acknowledged the potential pitfalls of having insurers collect information about race and other demographic characteristics. Under New York law, health plans are prohibited from asking about race on insurance applications to prevent discrimination — although the new information would be collected in a survey that’s separate from the application for coverage.
The draft regulations emphasize that plans will still be subject to existing state laws that ban them from using protected characteristics such as race, national origin, gender, sexuality or marital status to set insurance rates or engage in other types of discrimination.
The proposal also includes provisions prohibiting insurers from selling the data that’s collected or using it for marketing purposes, even if the information is de-identified.
The state Health Plan Association, which represents insurers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposed rule.
The draft regulations will be subject to a 70-day public comment period, after which they could undergo revisions before being finalized.
This story was updated to reflect that Harris became acting superintendent of the Department of Financial Services in 2021
Tagged
new york city
new york state
Race And Justice Unit
Health and Science
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYPD searching for suspect after fatal stabbing in Queens
Officers responding to a call at the intersection of Jamaica Avenue and 173rd Street around 1 a.m. found 29-year-old Sulimon Ferrier, who had multiple stab wounds to his chest, police said.
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 3, 2026 at 4:38 p.m. ET
NYPD: 2 suspects in off-duty officer stabbing tried to rob victim
It’s unclear if the attackers knew the victim was NYPD.
By
Jill Webb
News
NYPD: 2 suspects in off-duty officer stabbing tried to rob victim
It’s unclear if the attackers knew the victim was NYPD.
By
Jill Webb
Astoria-born Chip City announces sudden closure days after former CEO sues
By
Catalina Gonella
US judge tosses Trump lawsuit targeting pro-Palestinian protesters in NJ
By
Willow Higgins
A big, bright Saturn will be the highlight of NYC's fall stargazing season
By
Rosemary Misdary
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .