At a September 22 event acknowledging MetroPlus winning an inaugural Ad POP Award, Gay City News publisher Jennifer Goodstein hands the honor to Seth Diamond, MetroPlus’ chief operating officer as (left to right) Paul Greenberg, managing partner at MSA Marketing, Gay City News editor Paul Schindler, MetroPlus’ director of corporate communications Kathryn Soman, and Keith Klein, chief creative officer at MSA Marketing, look on. | DONNA ACETO
MetroPlus Health Plan, which provides low or no-cost health insurance to New Yorkers eligible for government-sponsored insurance programs, is the inaugural New York winner of a Pride in Online and Print (Ad POP) Award from the National Gay Media Association.
The plan of choice for roughly half a million residents of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, MetroPlus products deliver insurance thorough Medicaid Managed Care and the Medicaid HIV Special Needs Plans, Medicare plans including those for people with HIV/ AIDS, Child Health Plus, Managed Long-Term Care, and the New York State Health Marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act.
MetroPlus’ network includes more than 27,000 primary care providers and specialists. With a focus on preventive care, said Kathryn Soman, director of corporate communications, “We are always looking at ways to incentivize members to take better care of themselves and be more proactive in their health care.”
According to Keith Klein, chief creative officer at MSA Marketing, which works with MetroPlus, both MetroPlus and its parent, New York City Health + Hospitals, “have put a lot of time and effort into making sure that services are available to the LGBT community. Marketing ensures that people know that those services are there for them, so to be recognized for that vital service is very special.”
Facilities run by NYC Health + Hospitals have earned the designation of “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality” from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, which bases such designations on institutions training staff in LGBT health care issues, having LGBT-responsive policies, and communicating those policies internally and to the public. NYC Health + Hospitals was the first public health care system in the nation to mandate LGBT health care training for all of its staff members.
MetroPlus was, over the past year, a major sponsor of two important LGBT initiatives – Gay City News’ Pride events and publications in all five boroughs during June and the newspaper’s first-ever Impact Awards held in March.
The National Gay Media Association is a trade group representing the nation’s 12 leading LGBT publications. The Association, for the first time this year, recognized regional leaders in serving the LGBT community with Ad POP Awards, and MetroPlus was clearly deserving of that recognition here in New York.
The Association also recognized a number of national advertisers that serve the LGBT community, including Mercedes Benz, Gilead Pharmaceuticals, and Absolut Vodka.
