Called NYS Health Line today to try and get something better than Medicaid, told that any New Yorker making over $51,520 a year must pay full price $450-$630 a month for health insurance. What?

So, Jan 2021: I had been on furlough with a production agency I was on retainer with for many years, with which I had Aetna. I paid $250/mo for my plan, with which all my copays outside of pcp visit were $50 every time – so even when I had health insurance, I was paying $450/mo for mental health support. The furlough ended, I called NY State of Health, they gave me Medicaid because I had ‘lost my job.’ Then and now I work as a freelancer, and make more than the annual salary that would qualify anyone for Medicaid or even NYS Essentials. While I am incredibly grateful for my continual medicaid coverage through 2022 given federal mandate, quality general preventative care and mental health services on NYS medicaid feel virtually impossible to access, even if you’ve actually succeeded in making it to a scheduled appointment of any kind, services are abysmal.

I called NY State of Health today and asked them what the options were depending on one’s salary. They told me that, as per https://nystateofhealth.ny.gov/individual, anyone making over $51,520 looking for medical + adult dental can choose only between Fidelis, Metroplus, or Healthfirst, at full price to the covered individual between $488.03 and $636.36 per month. I asked, ok so if you make $52k, less 20% in taxes you are bringing home a hypothetical $41,600 annually, where rent is $1200 a month on a good day, New Yorkers are expected to pay $488 minimum for BASELINE health insurance, before copays? Understanding that seeing a therapist weekly means a copay four times a month?

Outside of my mini rant my question to this thread is: how can I find a comprehensive list of what healthcare options are available to me as a New Yorker? When I go to healthcare.gov it forwards anyone that selects NY from the dropdown to nystateofhealth.ny.gov. As it appears on the NYS website, I’m not even eligible for Aetna – is that even true? When I called NYS’s health line they said that all I was eligible for was whatever was on their website, and that would only be IF I filed to cancel my continuous medicaid coverage.