{"id":716314,"date":"2026-06-20T22:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T22:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/716314\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T22:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T22:57:07","slug":"hochul-extends-free-healthcare-program-for-sex-workers-and-taxpayers-will-foot-the-2-5m-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/716314\/","title":{"rendered":"Hochul extends free healthcare program for sex workers, and taxpayers will foot the $2.5M bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Kathy Hochul has quietly extended a pilot program providing free healthcare to sex workers \u2013 with taxpayers footing the nearly $2.5 million bill.<\/p>\n

The state Health Department in 2023 awarded $1 million in public funds<\/a> to two contractors <\/a>as part of Hochul\u2019s plan to help the \u201cworld\u2019s oldest profession,\u201d but new documents reviewed by The Post show the program extending through June 2028, with $1.5 million more in costs.<\/p>\n

Under the initiative, sex workers in NYC and the Buffalo area will continue to receive primary, sexual, behavioral, and dental care. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The Hochul administration has quietly extended a pilot program providing free health care for sex workers \u2013 with the price tag for taxpayers now expected to soar to nearly $2.5 million. Andrew Schwartz \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Critics bashed the hooker healthcare program \u2014 which was launched without state Legislature approval \u2013 for encouraging prostitution. <\/p>\n

They also ripped the politics behind the move, accusing Hochul of extending the pilot to satisfy Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other far-left Dems who want to decriminalize prostitution.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe lengths by which New York Democrats will cater to the far left has no greater example then Gov. Hochul funding healthcare for hookers to the tune of millions while actual frontline healthcare workers . . . live on food stamps,\u201d said state Assemblyman Michael Novakhov (R-Brooklyn), referring to a repeated gripe by EMTs that they are so poorly paid that many seek government assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of playing pimp, Kathy \u2018Ho-Ho\u2019 Hochul and Mayor \u2018Madam\u2019 Mamdani should consider making sure the heroes who answer 911 calls and save lives every day can afford their rent and groceries,\u201d said\u00a0Novakhov.<\/p>\n

Under the initiative, sex workers in NYC, Buffalo and other parts of western New York will continue to receive primary, sexual, behavioral, and dental health care. \u00a0 For the New York Post<\/p>\n

State Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Staten Island) agreed, claiming Hochul is \u201cabsolutely catering\u201d to Mamdani and state Democratic Socialists of America pols peddling legislation to decriminalize sex work.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is a target and trying to keep them at bay [during her re-election bid] with other people\u2019s money,\u201d Pirozzolo said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe governor likes to say, \u2018New York is open for business.\u2019 We are open for business . . . but it\u2019s the business of selling needles and marijuana, . . . prostitution and other business that is bad business for New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hookers seeking to deal with hazards of the trade by having abortions or taking pills for sexually transmitted diseases and birth control can easily get free assistance through health clinics for these services and don\u2019t need a health care plan, he added.<\/p>\n

Critics bashed the taxpayer-funded program \u2013 which was launched in 2023 without state Legislature approval \u2013 saying it encourages prostitution and other types of sex work. For New York Post<\/p>\n

As part of the pilot program, Callen-Lorde and EHS Inc.\/Evergreen Health will continue to receive yearly payments of $250,000 to provide sex workers access to medical care via the Health Department\u2019s AIDS Institute.<\/p>\n

The original deal expired last year, but the Health Department put out a legal notice in September saying \u201cadditional time is needed to evaluate the program.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The vendors received the extra work without competitive bidding because it \u201cwas not feasible in this instance,\u201d the notice said.<\/p>\n

Callen-Lorde \u2013 who calls itself a \u201cglobal leader in LGBTQ+ healthcare\u201d \u2014 endorses the decriminalization of sex work, according to its website.<\/p>\n

The Health Department defended the extension, insisting in a statement that \u201call New Yorkers deserve access to quality, barrier-free health care,\u201d and that\u201d the only thing driving the department\u2019s decisions are what is best for public health and safety of New Yorkers.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Kathy Hochul has quietly extended a pilot program providing free healthcare to sex workers \u2013 with taxpayers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[15906,97,252,44614,9041,253,28861,35165,5871,111,39422,308697,194,10766],"class_list":["post-716314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-dental","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-health-department","tag-health-insurance","tag-healthcare","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-legislature","tag-metro","tag-politics","tag-prostitution","tag-sex-workers","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}