HCFANY’s 2024 Policy Agenda

Health Care for All New York (HCFANY) is a statewide coalition of over 170 organizations dedicated to securing quality, affordable health coverage for all. New York has cut the number of uninsured people in half since 2010. Despite this remarkable feat, there are still over 1 million uninsured New Yorkers. Many New Yorkers find health care unaffordable even with health insurance. New Yorkers continue to experience racial, ethnic, and other disparities in access to health care and health outcomes. HCFANY’s 2024 policy agenda seeks to set New York on a path toward universal coverage that is affordable, comprehensive, and equitable. 

Medical Debt

Over 80,000 New Yorkers were sued by hospitals between 2015 and 2023, and 740,000 have medical debt.

  • New York’s hospital financial assistance law is outdated. The Ounce of Prevention Act (S1366B| A6027A) would modernize NY’s Hospital Financial Assistance Law and medical debt collection processes.
  • The 5 State-operated hospitals have sued over 16,000 patients since 2019 while collecting over $530 million annually in DSH funds for their uncompensated care costs. The Stop SUNY Suing Act (A8170|S7778) would bar these suits.

Improve Health Coverage

Around one million New Yorkers remain uninsured, including 245,000 people excluded from existing coverage programs because they are immigrants. Still others are underinsured, facing high out-of-pocket costs.

  • Adopt Kids Coverage (A8146|S7747) and in Governor Hochul’s Budget bill to ensure children up to age 6 remain continuously covered in Medicaid or Child Health Plus.
  • The Coverage4All Act (A3020B|S2237B) would seek federal funding to cover 150,000 income-eligible immigrants in the Essential Plan. It would also save over $400 million in State Emergency Medicaid.
  • Adopt Governor Hochul’s proposal to improve cost-sharing for Marketplace plans
  • Adopt Governor Hochul’s proposal to ban cost-sharing for insulin.
  • Cap and eliminate the asset test (A5940A|S4881A) for people who are over 65 or have disabilities in Medicaid.
  • Enact the NY Health Act so that everyone has access to affordable quality health care without fear of medical debt.

Consumer Assistance

The end of the public health emergency has changed eligibility and renewal processes for over 8 million New Yorkers. People need help managing these changes without disruptions in coverage or care.

  • The Community Health Advocates (CHA) program provides post-enrollment assistance to 36,000 New Yorkers annually, saving them over $35 million. Last year, CHA’s budget was cut by $468,000.  New York should fund CHA at $5.5 million.
  • Navigators have helped over 300,000 New Yorkers enroll since 2013 without ever receiving a cost-of-living increase. New York should increase Navigator funding from $27.2 million to $38 million to maintain service levels and create a $5 million grant program to fund community-based organizations to conduct outreach in communities with high rates of uninsured people.