Today, over 100 Health Care for America Now New York (HCAN NY) coalition members and supporters gathered at City Hall in Manhattan to tell the New York State Congressional Delegation that affordability is key to effective national reform. Specifically, HCAN NY supports H.R.3200–the House bill that will proposes an income tax “surcharge” on the top 1.8% of earners as a way to contain health costs for middle and low-income families.

HCAN NY also released two studies that show just how unaffordable health care in New York has become:

• The first report, “Health Insurance Coverage in New York Keeps Shrinking as Premiums, Family Costs Continue Climbing” finds that health insurance premiums for New York working families have gone up 97% between 2000 and 2007, a period in which New Yorkers’ median earnings went up only 11%. What’s more, while the full cost of employer-sponsored insurance now equals 25% of median family income in New York, that number will grow to 47% by 2016. Without reform, more and more New Yorkers will be completely priced out of the health insurance market.
• The second report, issued by Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) finds that a proposal in House health care reform legislation (H.R. 3200) to impose an income tax surcharge on married couples with an adjusted gross income of $350,000 ($280,000 for single taxpayers) would affect only 1.8% of New York taxpayers.  Nationally, the surcharge would raise $543 billion to fund health care for all with a high-quality public health insurance option.

In short, real health care reform has to be affordable to working families, and New Yorkers call on their Congressional representatives to ensure that health reform acknowledges the high cost of care in New York.

Read the press statement here