New York City is joining Los Angeles and San Francisco in the league of major U.S. cities offering immigrant healthcare programs, regardless of whether that person is here legally or not. 

And since we have the largest population in the country of people who weren't born in the States, it's a fully rational program to launch here.

The idea is that nobody should be bereft of healthcare because of their immigration status. Called Direct Access, it will apply to 1000 immigrants initially, and is expected to grow over the coming years. 

It'll cost $6 million to start, and we're expecting that number to rise as the program develops.The program will center around preventative and primary healthcare providers for uninsured and low income immigrants. 

In other words, if you're insured and have a primary health care provider, chances are your waiting room will not be inundated with people signing up for this program. 

Nisha Agarwal, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs released a statement where in which she said, "The City's actions today are the first step in our efforts to develop a fully inclusive healthcare system that protects all of our residents, regardless of immigration status."

Now, everyone knows that NYC is quite the liberal city. Generally, we're progressive and forward-thinking, but there will be plenty of New Yorkers who will not support programs designed to assist people who are here illegally. 

So yeah, there's bound to be a degree of discontentment over Direct Access.

But what's important to remember here is that Direct Access is essentially in place to promote the greater health of NYC, not just a demonized sect of people who boil down to economic refugees. 

Now who's with us on that? 

Check out Mayor de Blasio Wants Subway Performers to Legally Earn Tips in NYC. 

[via Reuters]