The UFT has created a new telehealth benefit for members who are not eligible for city health insurance. UFT members who are substitute paraprofessionals, per-diem teachers and members of the union’s ADAPT Community Network chapters can now access virtual medical care through the AllyHealth Telemedicine Program. The benefit is also being made available to UFT members in the Family Child Care Providers Chapter.
While less than full health insurance, the new program gives these members and their families unlimited access to a doctor by phone or video chat, any time of day, regardless of health insurance status, with no copay. Each family is also entitled to 10 free mental health sessions per year with a licensed professional, assistance with negotiating onerous medical bills, a discount program for prescription drugs and access to a concierge service to help with everyday challenges such as finding child care or elder care.
“The UFT recognizes the hard work these dedicated professionals bring to the children and families of New York City,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “We will continue to fight to strengthen our member benefits to support every member and their family.”
Substitute paraprofessionals and per-diem teachers are not eligible for city health insurance. The 1,200 UFT members in the ADAPT Community Network chapters, who work with cognitively and physically challenged children and adults, receive health insurance through their private sector employer, but these health benefits are not as robust as city-provided health insurance, said UFT Special Representative Ilene Weinerman, the union’s liaison to the ADAPT chapters.
The telemedicine benefit will save members an expensive trip to an urgent care clinic or the doctor when faced with a medical need that can be diagnosed and treated without an in-person examination or even for something as mundane as a prescription refill.
Joy Peko, an occupational therapist at ADAPT’s Harry H. Gordon School in the Bronx, said she signed up for the new telehealth benefit as soon as it was available. “I could set up an appointment quickly on the app and add photos to help the doctor diagnose,” she said. “They called back in less than an hour. The doctor was knowledgeable and quickly diagnosed my issue and was able to call in treatment to the pharmacy.”
Eleni Sakkoulas, a per-diem teacher at IS 201 in Brooklyn, said she was surprised at how quickly a health care provider called her back — within 30 minutes — when she requested a consultation. The provider evaluated her by phone and sent a prescription to her local pharmacy, she said.
Sakkoulas is delighted that the UFT has provided this new benefit to per-diem members, she said, because “we’re in the schools every day, too, and we have the same risk of illness” as appointed teachers do.
“The UFT understands the challenges we face as educators,” she said.