9,000 in Onondaga County to lose Essential Plan coverage next month

About 9,000 people in Onondaga County are set to lose Essential Plan coverage on July 1, part of a statewide shift that will affect nearly 450,000 New Yorkers and reshape insurance for families who have relied on the plan’s $0 monthly premium and no-deductible structure.

The cutoff hits the Essential Plan 200-250 tier, which covers adults ages 19 to 64 with household incomes between 200% and 250% of the federal poverty level. New York says most of those members will move into Qualified Health Plans in the individual marketplace, but those policies may come with higher premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs than the coverage they have now.

That matters because the Essential Plan has been a major source of low-cost coverage in Syracuse and across Onondaga County. NY State of Health describes it as a plan with comprehensive benefits, including dental and vision care, inpatient and outpatient hospital care, and prescription drugs. For enrollees who use regular medications, see a primary-care doctor, or need routine dental work, the change could turn a manageable monthly budget into a much steeper one.

State officials say the transition follows a federal policy change. New York says H.R. 1, signed into law in July 2025, ended premium tax credit eligibility for most lawfully present immigrants that had helped finance the expanded version of the Essential Plan. The state’s Section 1332 waiver, which had allowed the expansion, was approved by the federal government on March 1, 2024. On March 23, 2026, the state said federal approval was granted to end that waiver and return to Basic Health Program authority, preserving coverage for about 1.3 million Essential Plan enrollees below 200% of poverty.

Members have already started getting notices. NY State of Health says 90-day advance letters have been mailed to explain next steps, and insurers including Fidelis Care, MVP Health Care, EmblemHealth, Healthfirst, CDPHP and Independent Health have also alerted members in the affected income band that their coverage ends June 30, 2026.

Community health advocates and providers have warned that the change could push some patients to delay appointments or skip care altogether if they cannot absorb the higher costs of marketplace coverage. For Onondaga County households now staring at a July 1 deadline, the immediate task is to review marketplace options quickly, before a routine prescription refill or doctor visit turns into an uninsured bill.