There are lots of opportunities coming up over the next couple of weeks to learn more about health policy priorities and how to take action. Here’s a few of them!

TODAY: Statewide Day of Action for Guaranteed Healthcare (link)

The Campaign for New York Health is holding a day of action for the New York Health Act, which would provide comprehensive health coverage for everyone who lives or works full-time in New York. Look for #PassNYHealth to see what people are saying and join in!

• Learn more about why we need the New York Health Act here.
• If you missed the day of action you can always show your support for the New York Health Act by clicking this link and telling your State Assemblymember and Senator to support the bill. If they already do, the link will give you an opportunity to thank them!

Tomorrow: #Coverage4All Virtual Day of Action

There are 400,000 New Yorkers without insurance because of their immigration status. A1585/S2549 would guarantee that all New Yorkers can access life-saving health coverage if they have had COVID-19. Look for #Coverage4All and #PassA1585 all day tomorrow to help get the word out!

What else can you do?

• Sign up for campaign updates here.
• Become listed as a supporting organization here.
• Contact your legislator any time using the instructions here.

Friday, 11:00-12:00: Budget Briefing for Health Justice Advocates

Join the Campaign for NY Health, the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association of New York State, Coverage4All, Health Care for All NY, and Medicaid Matters NY for an overview of the FY22 Executive Budget Proposal and its implications for healthcare in New York. Register here.

Friday, February 5 1:00-3:00: HCFANY Annual Meeting

What can we expect from legislative session this year? How do we push forward and ensure quality, affordable health care for everyone in New York State during a pandemic and a budget crisis? Join us to learn more about our legislative and budget priorities for 2021 and how you can take action yourself! Click here to register!

During this virtual meeting we will:

• Award Senator Gustavo Rivera as this year’s Consumer Champion and present a posthumous Lifetime Achievement award to Kristin Sinclair, Director of the Senate Health Committee.
• Share information about the state budget and our legislative priorities, including expanding health coverage to all New Yorkers, ending medical debt, and addressing systemic inequity in our health care system.
• Talk about future workshops that will offer deep dives on different health policy issues and opportunities to take action.

Health Care for All New York (HCFANY) is a statewide coalition of over 170 consumer-focused organizations dedicated to achieving quality, affordable health coverage for all New Yorkers, and ensuring that the concerns of real New Yorkers are heard and reflected in policy conversations.

HCFANY commends Governor Cuomo for including three important health care initiatives in the 2020 State of the State. The first measure would help address the ever-escalating costs of prescription drugs by: capping monthly co-payments at $100 per month for insured patients who have diabetes; increasing public accountability and government enforcement of out-of-control prescription drug price hikes; and the establishment of a commission to explore the importation of lower cost drugs from Canada. The second measure is to establish a consumer-friendly health care transparency website where patients can compare health care costs and quality. The third measure would cut the statute of limitations for providers to sue their patients from six to three years and improve the state’s Surprise Bill law. HCFANY applauds the Governor’s steps to call attention to these issues and looks forward to reviewing these proposals.

HCFANY is disappointed, however, that the Administration did not take this important moment to address health care costs and affordability more squarely and urges it to do so in the upcoming Budget. Specifically, HCFANY urges Governor Cuomo to follow California’s lead and address the need to provide health coverage for our immigrant residents, who face increasing attacks at the federal level (S.3900/A.5974).  In addition, HFCANY urges the Governor to make health care more affordable through the New York State of Health Marketplace by establishing a state premium assistance program.  Finally, HCFANY asks the Governor to protect patients from medical debt by adopting proposals in the Patient Medical Debt Protection Act (S.6757/A.8639) including: simplifying medical billing, curbing hospital collection abuses, closing the misinformation loophole in our Surprise Bill law, and simplifying the State Hospital Financial Assistance Law. 

These measures are needed now more than ever because of immigration and affordability barriers to healthcare as well as spiking insurance premiums, deductibles and co-pays.  More than a third of New Yorkers are dealing with serious financial repercussions because of medical bills, including racking up credit card debt, using up their savings, or being put into collections. A third of consumers report paying medical bills they did not owe because they did not know how to fight them.  New Yorkers deserve coverage expansions and medical debt protections and this is the Legislative Session to achieve them.

Yesterday, the House of Representatives adopted a budget resolution that paves the way for the federal government to approve up to $1.5 trillion in tax cuts to wealthy people and corporations with only Republican votes.

What’s a budget resolution?

A budget resolution is a piece of legislation that outlines the congressional budget. It establishes how much the federal government is allowed to spend and in which categories (for example, transportation) and how much they can increase the federal debt or deficit. The resolution can also include budget reconciliation instructions, which allow the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass budget-related measures with fewer votes and without filibusters from opponents.

The budget resolution just passed includes reconciliation instructions, which means that Republicans, who have majorities in both houses, could pass major tax legislation without the support of their democratic colleagues. Democrats who disagree with the tax legislation would also be very limited in their ability to delay or stop the vote.

How is this related to health care?

Any tax cuts will eventually have to be paid for. The budget resolution that ultimately passed did not specify which programs would be cut in order to pay for the tax legislation, but an earlier version of the budget resolution introduced in the House gives us a pretty good idea of what the cuts might look like. This earlier version of the resolution called for $5.8 trillion over 10 years in cuts to programs that help low- and moderate-income families. This included a devastating $1.8 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and other health care programs, which would hurt millions of children, families, and seniors.

What does this mean for consumers right now?

Nothing yet. The budget resolution is a set of guidelines. It will not be submitted to the President, and it does not have the force of law. However, Congress is planning on releasing formal tax legislation as early as next week, which if passed by both houses, would affect consumers beginning in 2018.

Check back with HCFANY in the coming weeks for updates on the budget and other federal health care policy issues.

A new proposal from Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) that would devastate New York and the nation could pass as early as next week. An updated analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) estimates that New York State would lose more than $33 billion by 2027 under the Graham-Cassidy amendment – a last-ditch effort by the Senate to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) before September 30. CBPP says that beginning in 2027, Graham-Cassidy “would likely be even more damaging” than repealing the ACA without a replacement, which would have caused an estimated 32 million people to lose their health coverage.

The Graham-Cassidy amendment would:

• End Medicaid Expansion and Advanced Premium Tax Credits (APTCs) that help make insurance more affordable in 2020 and convert all funds to a block-grant.
• Require a state match to use any block-grant funds.
• End the Medicaid program as we know it, by capping how much states can spend on each Medicaid recipient.

Graham-Cassidy would replace the federal funding for Medicaid Expansion and APTCs with a block-grant to states. According to CBPP, this block-grant would include a 17 percent cut to current federal funding levels by 2026 and would not be adjusted based on the size of a state’s Medicaid population or changes in a state’s funding needs. New York would experience the second largest funding cut in the nation. There is also no requirement in the amendment that states use this money on health coverage. This block-grant would completely disappear in 2027.

Your Representatives in Congress need to hear from you. Please call 844.898.1199 and tell your Representative to vote “NO” on this devastating proposal.