Does CityMD take Medicaid?
CityMD takes some Medicaid managed care plans and not others, according to the insurance page on its own site, checked November 3, 2026. Most New Yorkers with Medicaid are enrolled in a managed care plan run by a carrier, so the brand on your card decides the answer, not the word Medicaid.
| Plan on your card | What CityMD’s insurance page says |
|---|---|
| Healthfirst | Accepted: “All plans” |
| Fidelis Care | Accepted: “All plans” |
| MetroPlus Health Plan | Accepted: “Managed Medicaid and dual eligible (Medicare and Medicaid)” |
| Affinity | Listed as “All plans accepted,” with no line about Medicaid |
| EmblemHealth (Emblem, HIP, GHI) | Accepted excluding all Medicaid lines of business |
| UnitedHealthcare Community Plan | Excluded |
| WellCare | Medicare plans accepted; managed Medicaid plans excluded |
| Anthem/Empire HealthPlus, Molina, Amida | Not named on the page |
| Medicaid without a plan (fee-for-service) | Not named on the page |
CityMD’s page does not mention the Essential Plan by name either. If your Essential Plan is with Healthfirst or Fidelis, the “all plans” line points to yes; confirm at the site. Is your Healthfirst plan Medicaid? and Is Fidelis Care Medicaid? explain how to read the card.
What CityMD tells you to do if your plan is not listed
CityMD’s own advice, on the same page, is to call its billing line at 1.908.790.6500 or email billing@citymd.com when a plan is not listed, or to contact your local CityMD. That is a sensible order with one addition: call your plan’s member services too, because the plan’s directory and the clinic’s list are kept by different people and do not always agree.
The page also lists Medicare, Railroad Medicare and several Medicare Advantage carriers (Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Oxford, Emblem and WellCare), plus commercial plans such as 1199SEIU, the NYS Empire Plan, Oxford, Aetna and Empire BCBS. For uninsured patients it mentions “competitive and affordable uninsured rates” but publishes no price; ask for the self-pay price of the visit and any test before you are seen. What urgent care costs in New York.
What to say at the CityMD desk:
“My card says [plan name, for example Healthfirst Medicaid]. Your insurance page lists that plan. Can you confirm this location bills it, before I am seen?”
The NYC chains side by side
Each chain publishes its own list, and the lists change. This table records what each chain’s own site said, or did not say, on November 3, 2026.
| Chain | Medicaid on its own site | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CityMD | Healthfirst, Fidelis and MetroPlus Medicaid listed; Emblem Medicaid, UHC Community Plan and WellCare Medicaid excluded | The most detailed public list of the chains we checked |
| Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care | Not readable: the NYC insurance page blocked automated access | Third-party directories disagree by location; we do not repeat them |
| ProHEALTH | Not readable: the site did not respond | Confirm by phone, plan name first |
| Mount Sinai Urgent Care (Upper West Side, Union Square, Brooklyn Heights, plus CURE Urgent Care and Urgent Care 181) | No plan list on the urgent care page | Mount Sinai’s insurance page says physicians may not take the same plans as its hospitals |
| NYC Health + Hospitals ExpressCare | Treats patients regardless of insurance | The public system, by video around the clock and walk-in at its sites |
We did not fill the empty cells from directory sites such as WebMD or Solv, because those listings contradict each other from one location to the next and were not written by the chain.
Mount Sinai urgent care: why the hospital list is not enough
Mount Sinai’s urgent care page lists six sites in Manhattan and Brooklyn, three under the Mount Sinai name and three affiliated brands, CURE Urgent Care on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side and Urgent Care 181. It does not list insurance. It links to a general insurance page instead.
That insurance page carries two warnings worth reading before any visit. Physicians “may or may not participate in the same health plans as the hospitals in which they provide services.” And some plans use smaller networks for certain products, so you must check “the specific plan you are covered by.” In practice: a Mount Sinai hospital taking your Medicaid plan does not settle whether its urgent care site does.
Mount Sinai also runs virtual urgent care, which its page lists as available 8:30 am to 10:30 pm Monday to Friday and 9 am to 7 pm on weekends. The same plan question applies to a video visit.
Why two locations of one chain can answer differently
A chain’s list is a starting point. Contracts can be signed by a legal entity that covers some locations and not others, and a plan can include a clinic in one product (for example its Medicare Advantage plan) and leave it out of another (its Medicaid plan). That is exactly the pattern on CityMD’s page: EmblemHealth is accepted, except its Medicaid lines.
Three checks, in this order, take about five minutes:
- Read the exact plan name on your card, not only the carrier. “Healthfirst Medicaid” and “Healthfirst Essential Plan” are different products.
- Search the state’s Provider and Health Plan Look-Up Tool at pndslookup.health.ny.gov, which shows which plans a provider participates in, or call member services on the back of your card.
- Call the location and ask the question below. A directory can be wrong; the person who bills the visit is the last word.
“I have [exact plan name]. Is this location in network for that plan, and is this site part of a hospital?”
The second half matters for anyone paying part of the bill: a hospital-affiliated site can add a facility fee. Urgent care or ER: the cost difference.
When no chain near you takes your plan
Use the public system. NYC Health + Hospitals ExpressCare treats non-emergency problems regardless of insurance, by video and phone and as walk-in care at its locations. ExpressCare and the Medicaid check, step by step.
Use your plan’s telehealth. Many problems that send people to urgent care can be handled on video, and your plan’s own telehealth service is in network by definition.
Ask the plan to find you a site. Member services can name in-network urgent care near your ZIP code. If your plan’s network is thin where you live, that is a reason to compare plans at renewal. Which Medicaid plans exist in each county.
Emergencies are different. Chest pain, trouble breathing, stroke signs or heavy bleeding: call 911 or go to an emergency room, which must screen and stabilize you whatever your coverage. Your rights in the ER.
Questions people ask
Does CityMD take Medicaid in NYC?
For some plans. CityMD’s insurance page lists Healthfirst and Fidelis (all plans) and MetroPlus managed Medicaid, and excludes EmblemHealth’s Medicaid lines, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan and WellCare’s managed Medicaid plans. Confirm the location before you are seen.
Does CityMD take Healthfirst?
CityMD’s insurance page lists Healthfirst as “All plans.” Give the desk the exact plan name on your card and ask them to confirm the location bills it.
Does CityMD take EmblemHealth Medicaid?
No, according to CityMD’s own page, which accepts Emblem, HIP and GHI plans “excluding all Medicaid lines of business.” Emblem’s Medicare plans are listed as accepted.
Does CityMD take UnitedHealthcare Community Plan?
No. CityMD’s insurance page explicitly excludes UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, though it lists other UnitedHealthcare plans.
Does Northwell GoHealth urgent care take Medicaid?
We could not read GoHealth’s NYC insurance page when we checked on November 3, 2026, so we cannot quote its list. Call the location and your plan’s member services with the exact plan name on your card.
What if my plan is not on CityMD’s list?
CityMD says to call its billing line at 1.908.790.6500, email billing@citymd.com or contact the local site. Also call your plan’s member services and ask for an in-network urgent care near you.
Sources
- CityMD — insurance accepted (checked 2026-11-03)
- Mount Sinai — urgent care locations (checked 2026-11-03)
- Mount Sinai — insurance information (checked 2026-11-03)
- Northwell Health-GoHealth Urgent Care — NYC insurance page (not readable when checked) (checked 2026-11-03)
- NYS Provider and Health Plan Look-Up Tool (checked 2026-11-03)
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This page explains how the system works. It is not medical advice. More.