The New York City-HIP contract

With the signing of a contract not to exceed $25 million, the Health Insurance Plan of New York (HIP) and the City of New York applied the concept of the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) on a scale never before attempted. Beginning in January 1978, as many as 100,000 Medicaid eligible individuals and families were enrolled in a prepaid group medical plan as participants in an experiment whose success or failure depended largely upon the City health system's ability to adapt to change. It also depended upon the support of the major health interests in this unique effort at rational, systemwide health planning.