A lefty Upper West Side councilwoman demanded free dental care for illegal immigrants this week — as she revealed she’s shelled out more than $8,000 of her own dough to keep their pearly whites intact.
“Is someone paying attention to all of their health needs!” Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) roared at NYC Health Department officials during a May 23 budget hearing.
“They have a lot of health needs. Forget the dental! I’m already out $8,000-$10,000 on the dental. So who is paying attention to them?” she scolded.
Brewer, who earns $148,500 as a council member, told The Post Friday she’s been fighting tooth and nail for migrants’ health needs — including paying out of her own pocket for some of them to root canals, cavity fillings, and other dental procedures.
“I’ve been doing this kind of stuff for years, especially helping younger people,” said the 73-year-old Brewer, who previously fostered 35 children with her husband, author Cal Snyder. “This is nothing new for me.”
During the hearing, Brewer told Acting Health Commissioner Michelle Morse the agency needs to do a better job spreading the word about what free healthcare assistance is available to migrants at city hospitals — including dental.
“Those guys you see driving those mobile e-bikes, they all have [city-funded health insurance] …, but they don’t know what to do with it, to be honest with you,” she said.
“And I assume you can’t do dental, because you can’t get dental for Americans — let alone for anybody else. They all have dental issues.”
“I happen to know a lot of … asylum seekers [and] support them,” she ranted.
“You can’t imagine how well I know then them – extremely well. And so, I’ve taken on a lot of the young people, a ton of them.”
“These are young guys. They’re pretty lost” about what taxpayer-funded health benefits they qualify for, Brewer added.
“I’m really concerned about their health.”
Critics said the longtime pol is more concerned with illegal migrants’ pearly whites than the needs of her own district.
“This is another example of misplaced priorities from Gale Brewer,” said longtime Upper West Side activist Maria Danzilo.
“It’s unfortunate that Gale feels migrants’ dental problems are more important that the needs of her own constituents in the community.
“What is she doing about the healthcare needs of her community? Plenty of New Yorkers also lack medical coverage.”
Morse said her agency would work with the city’s hospital system to expand education to migrants about free healthcare services through the “NYC Care” program.
All city hospitals – both public and private – are required by law to treat emergency patients regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status.
Migrants who’ve applied for political asylum are also eligible for Medicaid benefits. Minors, seniors, and pregnant women are eligible for free health care regardless of their immigrant status.
The Health Department declined to comment when asked if Brewer could’ve saved herself some cash by directing migrants with dental issues to city hospitals or health centers.
This isn’t the first time during hearings over the next fiscal year’s budget where Brewer’s gone off on a wild tangent.
She told Department of Correction honchos during a March hearing that the food menu offered on Rikers Island is so bad it makes her sick to her stomach.
Brewer then proclaimed she wanted the city to feed jailbirds “farm-to-table” meals, like ones served up at some of the Big Apple’s top Michelin-starred restaurants.
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