Janeth Forti is the proud mother of a beautiful four-month old baby girl.

She is uninsured but was eligible for Medicaid during her pregnancy. Now, it’s about to run out.

 

"They denied me the Medicaid, so now I'm concerned about the health insurance," said Forti.

 

Forti says she would have to pay about $300 a month to insure herself not including her baby with a health care plan through the Affordable Care Act. That's almost a quarter of her monthly income.

 

"When I realize that, you know, I can't afford that. It's too much for me. You know, and my job doesn't offer health insurance," said Forti.

 

She’s not alone. According to a recent study by Comptroller Scott Stringer, almost a million New Yorkers are uninsured.

Nearly a quarter of residents living in Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona don't have health insurance.

 

"These are communities with large immigrant populations but we also see communities with a lot of younger people. Young people think they're going to live forever. So, they put it off and they put it off. So, between our immigrant population, our young people, these are communities we want to reach out to. We want to convince it's important to sign up," said Stringer.

 

Dr. Jessica Petros works with many uninsured residents at the Community Healthcare Network center in Long Island City.

She says while many patients want insurance but they simply can't afford it.

 

"They may make more money than they could to qualify for Medicaid but yet they still don't make enough to pay the premiums that are associated with the plans for affordable care act, maybe we need to look into legislation and push to our government to look into this further," said Petros.

 

And that's a push patients, like Forti, would fully support.​