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New York City will spend at least $100 million to ensure that undocumented immigrants and others who cannot qualify for insurance can receive medical treatment, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday morning...The mayor’s office was quick to say that its plan, to be called NYC Care, would not be a substitute for any universal health care at the state level or a national single-payer plan. But, aides said, it was something the city could do immediately and on its own, and not require approval from the State Legislature...The NYC Care plan would improve that coverage, which already insures some 516,000 people, and aim to reach more of those who are eligible, such as the young and uninsured, and others who qualify but have not applied...It would also provide direct city spending, about $100 million per year when fully implemented, on those without insurance, including undocumented immigrants, who already can receive care at the emergency rooms of city-run hospitals...Details of how those seeking care could do so under the new plan were not immediately clear...

Upper West Side clerk and manager defy company policy, decline Israel passport and license…Dov Bergwerk arrived at the Avis branch on West 76th Street and Broadway (New York)…a senior vice president and general corporate counsel at the Israeli pharmaceutical giant Teva, got out his driver’s license, reservation number and “Wizard” loyalty card – he’s rented from Avis dozens of times before…A reservation agent…declined to honor Mr. Bergwerk’s reservation, saying that it was company policy not to recognize Israeli documents. Stunned, Mr. Bergwerk explained that he had rented from Avis many times, including a car from that very same office on Thursday, November 19 – only two days earlier…a manager…took the side of her reservation agent, also refusing to honor Mr. Bergwerk’s reservation or recognize his documents…Mr. Bergwerk called the Avis main number and got through to customer service. The representative confirmed to him that the Israeli license was an acceptable form of ID and also mentioned that he could show his passport to ameliorate any ID concerns the on-site employees…the customer service representative…now claimed that she was declining to rent the Bergwerks a car not because of the insufficient documents but because Mr. Bergwerk had “argued about the way I was being treated in front of other customers,” according to Mr. Bergwerk.

New York City officials have launched aggressive measures to stop the spread of Legionnaires' disease,...death toll in the outbreak, which has been concentrated in the South Bronx, has now hit double-digits, with 10 dead and 100 confirmed sick. Of those, 53 have been treated and released from hospitals..."We are doing everything that we can,"....

The digital start-up Capsule, which opens for business...in New York City, is looking to compete in the already crowded Big Apple pharmacy market by focusing on home delivery of prescription drugs...At the same time, Capsule is eschewing selling customers candy, soda, shampoo, greeting cards and other nonpharmaceutical items...Capsule aims to solve what its executives call the "existing pain points" of conventional, bricks-and-mortar pharmacies: long wait times to get prescriptions filled; having to return to the store because a drug is out of stock; uncertainty about how much a drug will cost a patient; and getting questions answered about drugs...Instead of walking into a store, most of the start-up's customers will get their medications hand-delivered by couriers dispatched throughout the city — with the temporary exception of Staten Island — via bicycle, buses and subways, and by foot, after their doctors file the prescription electronically...To build its business, Capsule will rely on consumer and doctor awareness. Patients can request the service, or doctors can recommend it...We think eliminating folks going into the store is one way of creating a better experience or energy...Capsule is launching its new way of running a pharmacy in New York City...This would certainly make sense in a number of other markets across the country, if not most everywhere...

Eli Lilly Co…announced plans to add a 130,000-square-foot building to its Indianapolis research-and-development headquarters…The $70 million investment is the latest in a string of moves by the Indianapolis-based drugmaker to bulk up its hometown presence…"We are excited to grow our presence in Indianapolis, which is home to our largest global R&D facility and where our research efforts began,"…Lilly employs 4,400 R&D workers in Indianapolis, the biggest chunk of its 7,000 R&D employees worldwide…Lilly has applied for a real-property tax abatement on the proposed expansion that will save it $6.6 million over a 10-year abatement period…Lilly will still pay about $6.7 million in property taxes during the abatement period on the increased value of the property…This is Lilly's fourth R&D expansion this year. In May…it would build a delivery and device innovation center in Cambridge…In July…announced an expansion of its biotechnology center in San Diego…In October…an expansion of its presence at the Alexandria Center for Life Science in New York City.

A lawmaker wants to allow California addicts to use heroin, crack and other drugs at supervised facilities to cut down on overdoses, joining several U.S. cities considering establishing the nation's first legal drug-injection sites...The proposal...comes as San Francisco, Seattle, New York City and Ithaca, New York, weigh ordinances to set up the facilities, citing the success of a site operating in Canada since 2003...law enforcement has opposed the move in California, saying it will worsen addiction. And lawmakers seemed reluctant to support it, postponing a committee vote...The bill from Democratic Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman would make it legal for local and state health departments to allow the use of controlled substances in clinics that would offer medical intervention...Supporters say the facilities would reduce deaths and transmissions of HIV and hepatitis C...

Fourteen years after the 9/11 attacks, a new round of uncertainty looms for people exposed to the million tons of toxic dust that fell on New York when hijacked jets toppled the World Trade Center….Two federal programs that promised billions of dollars in compensation and medical care to sick 9/11 responders and survivors are set to expire next year, five years after they were created by Congress.,, As Friday's anniversary of the terror attacks approached, advocates for responders renewed their push for an extension…Almost 21,600 people received treatment through the World Trade Center Health Program over the past year,… officials haven't been able to say how many patients might lose access to doctors or medication if the program shuts down as planned next September.